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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


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iV 


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microfiches. 


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10X 

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20X 


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lils 

iu 

Jifier 

me 

age 


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d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


rata 

3 


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1 

2 

3 

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2 

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4 

5 

6 

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Trail  and  Camp -Fire 


iht  ^0ofe  0(  tht  gooiw  m(i  itvofhtH  (tlnh 


KDITOkS 

(iEORGK    BIRD    (iRINNELL 

THEODORE    ROOSEVELT 


Mi  ( 


j^^ 


NEW-YORK 
FOREST   ANJ)   STREAM    PUBLISHIN(;   COMPANY 

1897 


(^v/f/SJlyJJ^J   /-,     ^^/i-^' 


Copyright    j  8()-    by 
Foiest  and  Stream  Publishing  Company 


Forest  and  Stream  Press 
New  York, N.Y.,U.S.A. 


Contents 

Page 

The  Labrador  Peninsula 15 

A.  p.  Low. 

Cherry ej 

Lewis  S.  Thompson. 

An  African  Shooting  Trip 78 

Will.  Lord  Smith. 

Sintamaskin 124 

C.  Grant  La  Farge.    {Atlantic  Monthly  ) 

Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature      .     .     .     .     .    152 

George  Bird  Grinnell. 

On  the   Little   Missouri 204 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Bear  Traits      .     .     . 22^ 

A    Berry   Picker— George  Bird  Grinnell.      A    Silver 
Tip    Family    J.    C.    Merrill.       The   Bear's  Disfo. 
sition—ThtodovG.  Roosevelt.     Modern  Bear  Baiting 
— Henry  L.  Stimson. 

The  Adirondack  Deer  Law     ....     264 

Wm.  Gary  Sanger. 

A  Newfoundland  Caribou   Hunt    .     .     .279 

Clay  Arthur  Pierce. 

3 


I. 


k:i3 


Contents 

I'age 

The   Origin   of  the   New   York    Zoolog- 
ical Society 3^3 

Madison  Grant. 

Books  on   Big  Game 321 

List  of  Books 33^ 

Constitution  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett 

Club 343 

Ofificers  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club  347 
List  of  Members 34^ 


m 

':-^>- 


I 


I 


s 


% 


List  of  Illustrations 
Gen.  B.  H.  Bristow     ....      Frontispiece 

1       r^  r  .        ,  Facing  pairti 

In  Camp  after  the  Leopard  Hunt    ...      79 

Wounded  Hartebeest . 

97 

The  Big  Elephant ^ 

Klipspringer  .     . ^^^ 

Oryx  .      . 

Ill 

Oryx 

113 

Rhinoceros  . 

115 

A  Lion   with    Fatal    Taste   for   Donkey 

Flesh .     . 

117 

Herds  and  Flocks  at  the  Springs    .     .     .121 

5 


List  of  Illustrations 

Kacinn  page 

The  Gray  Wolf '6' 

The  Coyote ^77 

Bird's-Eye  View  of  the  New  York  Zoolog- 
ical Park      313 

Preliminary  Plan  of  the   New  York  Zo- 

ological  Park 3^7 


1 


Preface 


I 


The  third  volume  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett 
Club  book  is  now  presented  to  its  members. 
The  two  earlier  ones  *'  American  Big  Game 
Hunting,"  and  "  Hunting  in  Many  Lands," 
were  published  in  1893  and  1895,  respectively, 
the  purpose  of  the  club  being  to  issue  one 
such  volume  every  two  years. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  last  volume  a 
wider  public  interest  has  been  aroused  in  sev- 
eral of  the  objects  for  which  the  club  is  work- 
ing, and  not  a  little  progress  has  been  made 
in  carrying  them  out.  Some  of  these  matters 
deserve  especial  mention. 

Late  in  the  year  1895  the  National  Academy 
of  Sciences,  at  the  request  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  appointed  a  committee  of  forestry 
experts,  who  should  examine  the  national  for- 
ests and  report  upon  them.  After  this  com- 
mittee had  reported,  thirteen  additional  forest 
reservations  in  the  West,  covering  21,000,000 
acres  of  land,  were  set  aside  by  Presidential 

7 


Preface 

proclamation.  This  action  was  directly  in  the 
line  of  recommendations  urged  in  the  Boone 
and  Crockett  Club  books,  and  two  members  of 
the  club  were  appointed  by  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  as  members  of  this  com- 
mittee. 

More  local,  but  still  of  the  highest  import- 
ance, is  the  successful  setting  on  foot  of  the 
New  York  Zoological  Society,  the  incorpora- 
tion of  which  was  mentioned  in  the  club's  pre- 
vious volume.  The  history  of  the  Society  in 
some  detail  will  be  found  in  the  following 
pages.  The  Boone  and  Crockett  Club  is 
largely  represented  on  the  board  of  manage- 
ment of  the  Zoological  Society,  and  much  of 
the  Society's  success  is  due  to  the  unselfish 
energy  of  these  members. 

The  abolition  in  the  Adirondacks,  for  a 
period  of  five  years,  of  the  unsportsmanlike 
practices  of  driving  deer  to  the  water  by 
hounds  and  of  jack-lighting  is  to  be  credited 
largely  to  the  efforts  of  the  Boone  and  Crock- 
ett Club.  The  chairman  of  its  game  law 
committee  spent  much  time  in  Albany  work- 
ing with  the  New  York  Legislature  to  bring 
about  the  passage  of  this  bill,  and  a  member 
of  the  club,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the 

8 


S,i« 


Preface 


I 

i 


Legislature,  introduced  and  carried  through 
the  measure  which  put  an  end  to  this  slaugh- 
ter. A  paper  from  the  pen  of  this  member 
will  be  found  in  the  present  volume.  For 
many  years  attempts  had  been  made  to  stop 
hounding,  and  once  a  law  forbidding  it  was 
enacted,  but  the  influence  of  the  hotels  a  id  of 
a  certain  portion  of  the  Adirondack  guides 
was  too  strong  to  be  permanently  overcome 
until  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club  took  hold 
of  the  matter. 

In  Captain  Anderson's  paper,  In  the  club's 
last  volume,  entitled  "Yellowstone  Park  Pro- 
tection," the  history  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Park  herd  of  buffalo  was  fully  given,  but  the 
number  of  these  animals  remaining  in  the 
Park  could  only  be  conjectured.  Recent  esti- 
mates, based  on  animals  and  tracks  seen  last 
winter,  seem  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  the 
buffalo  left  alive  there  number  between  twenty- 
five  and  fifty.  Probably  there  are  between 
thirty  and  forty.  They  are  badly  scattered, 
and,  even  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances, their  increase  must  be  very  slow. 

The  two  earlier  volumes  of  the  club's  pub- 
lication, though  devoted  chiefly  to  accounts  of 
hunting  adventure,  contain  also  considerable 


Preface 


l!l'' 


matter  bearing  on  the  natural  history  of  North 
American  game  and  forest  preservation.  In 
the  present  volume  an  effort  is  made  to  devote 
somewhat  more  space  to  the  natural  history- 
side  of  our  large  animals,  for  the  publications 
of  the  club  should  contain  material  of  per- 
manent value.  Of  course,  any  book,  whether 
on  hunting  or  science,  should  be  interesting, 
but  it  should  be  something  else,  too.  Hunt- 
ing stories  should  be  more  than  merely  pleas- 
ant reading.  The  purposes  of  the  club  are 
serious,  and  its  published  papers  should  be  of 
a  lasting  character.  We  would  call  special 
attention  to  Mr.  Low's  admirable  paper  on  the 
Peninsula  of  Labrador,  which  is  an  abstract  of 
his  talk  given  before  the  club  at  its  last  an- 
nual meeting.  The  composite  chapter  on  the 
habits  of  bears  contains  some  material  that  is 
absolutely  new,  and  additional  contributions 
of  this  nature  may  confidently  be  lo'  led  for 
hereafter  from  members  of  the  club.  The  big 
game  hunter  is  a  man  who  travels  about  with 
his  eyes  open,  and  the  more  familiar  he  is  with 
the  habits  of  game  the  greater  will  be  his  suc- 
cess. The  best  hunters  owe  their  success  less 
to  their  skill  with  the  rifle  than  to  the  knowl- 
edge which  they  have  acquired  of  the  game 


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■« 


« 


Preface 

that  they  pursue,  and  the  closer  a  man's  habits 
of  observation  the  more  speedily  will  he  be- 
come a  good  hunter. 

In  this  volume  will  be  found  the  draft  of  the 
new  constitution,  authorized  at  the  club's  an- 
nual meeting  to  be  submitted  for  ratification 
at  the  coming  one.  The  changes  made  in  this 
are  chiefly  in  the  direction  of  raising  the 
standard  of  the  qualifications  for  membership, 
and  in  more  sharply  defining  the  position 
taken  by  the  club  in  matters  of  sport.  Such 
changes  cannot  fail  to  appeal  to  most  mem- 
bers, who  will  recognize  that  the  Boo..e  and 
Crockett  Club  cannot  take  too  high  ground 
in  relation  to  all  matters  pertaining  to  its 
objects. 

George  Bird  Grinnell. 
Thfodore  Roosevelt. 

New  York,  October  i,  1897. 


II 


Hi 

I'M 

i.i' 

'  i[ 
I ) 

(I 


!' 


General  Benjamin  H.   Bristow 


From  the  Club  Minutes  of  January  i6,  iSqfj 

The  chairman  gave  expression  to  the  club's  sense  of  loss  in  the 
death  of  the  president,  and  it  was  voted  that  an  entry  be  made  in  the 
minutes  of  the  meeting,  as  follows  : 

General  Bristow  was  a  man  who  was  distinguished  in 
many  walks  of  life.  He  was  an  accomplished  lawyer,  a 
brave  soldier,  a  statesman  pre-eminent  for  ability  and 
integrity ;  he  represented  true  American  citizenship  in 
its  highest  and  best  sense. 

As  a  member  and  officer  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett 
Club,  General  Bristow  was  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
the  organization,  and  to  the  wider  public  interests  with 
which  it  is  concerned.  By  sentiment,  influence  and  ex- 
ample he  stood  for  what  is  highest  and  most  worthy  in 
sportsmanship.  His  membership  in  the  club,  his  warm 
interest  in  its  work,  and  his  devotion  as  a  presiding  offi- 
cer will  be  cherished  in  its  annals  as  an  abiding  honor. 

General  Bristow  was  a  singularly  pleasant  companion, 
and  a  most  staunch  and  loyal  friend.  While  it  is  fitting 
that  the  club  should  make  note  in  its  minutes  of  the  loss 
of  a  member  and  officer  whose  death  is  deplored,  no 
such  formal  record  can  express  in  any  degree  the  regret 
and  the  keen  sense  of  personal  loss  felt  by  all  its  mem- 
bers who  knew  him. 


I 


5»i, 


I 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


In  many  minds  the  name  Labrador  is  associ- 
ated with  the  picture  of  a  barren,  rock-bound 
coast,  continuously  hidden  by  a  thick  veil  of 
I  fog  and  mist,  and  lashed  by  the  waves  of  the 
I  ice-laden  North  Atlantic ;  a  land  without  re- 
f  deeming  features,  barren,  cold  and  uninhabited, 
;  except  by  a  few  degraded  Eskimo  who  struggle 
for  existence  in  this  semi-polar  region.     To 
isome  extent  this  view  is  justified  by  the  aspect 
|of  the  northeastern  coast,  where  the  sweep  of 
|the  arctic  current  bears  southward  throughout 
the  summer  a  continuous  stream  of  icebergs, 
^hich  lower  the  temperature  of   the  coastal 
region  to  such  an  extent  as  to  prevent  the 
Towth  of  trees  on  the  islands  or  exposed  por- 
tions of  the  coast.     The  unknown  interior  was 
supposed  to  be  of  a  similar  character,  and  only 
iiuring  the  past  few  years  has  sufficient  knowl- 
edge been  gained  to  refute  such  ideas,  and  to 
Ifhow  that,  although  by  no  means  a  country  fit 
Jor  agriculture  throughout,  it  is  much  less  bar- 
jn  and  desolate  than  was  formerly  supposed. 


15 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


^' 


The  distinction  of  being  the  earliest  discov- 
ered and  latest  unknown  portion  of  the  Amer- 
ican continent  may  be  claimed  for  the  Labrador 
Peninsula.  In  990  a.  d.  Biarne,  the  Norseman, 
sailed  from  Greenland  and  skirted  the  shores 
of  Labrador  on  his  voyage  southward,  probably 
to  Nova  Scotia.  He  was  followed  by  other 
crews  of  these  adventurers,  whose  latest  voy- 
age to  America  was  in  1347.  After  a  lapse  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  Labrador  was  re- 
discovered by  John  Cabot  in  1497,  on  a  voyage 
from  Bristol  in  search  of  a  passage  westward 
to  Cathay.  About  the  same  time  the  fisheries 
of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  became  known 
to  the  Basque  fishermen,  and  in  1 504  the  town 
of  Brest  was  founded  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Strait  of  Belle  Isle.  This  town  grew  rapidly, 
so  that  in  1 5 1 7  over  fifty  vessels  called  there ; 
and  at  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  about  1600, 
Brest  contained  200  houses,  and  a  population 
of  about  1 ,000  persons. 

Mercator's  map  of  1569  shows  the  coasts  of 
Labrador  and  Ungava,  or  Hudson  Bay,  and, 
as  he  derived  his  Information  from  Portuguese 
sources,  it  is  evident  that  the  fishermen  of  that 
country  had  previously  penetrated  Hudson 
Strait.     The  search  for  a  northwest  passage 


I 


16 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


iscov- 
\mer- 
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email, 
shores 
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other 
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I  of  the 
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oasts  of 
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tuguese 
of  that 
Hudson 
passage 


to  China  brought  to  the  coast  of  Labrador 
Martin  Frobisher  in  1577,  John  Davis  in  1586, 
Weymouth  in  1602,  and  finally,  in  1610,  Henry 
Hudson,  who  discovered  the  great  bay  called 
after  him. 

In  1603  Champlain  established  Quebec,  and 
shortly  afterward  the  Jesuit  missionaries  began 
their  labors  among  the  Indians,  traveling 
through  the  northern  interior  from  camp  to 
camp,  and  incidentally  gaining  a  knowledge  of 
the  country.  The  hardy  couriers  des  bois, 
or  French  trappers,  also  soon  overran  the 
northern  wilds,  where  they  acquired  the  habits 
of  the  natives,  and  usually  took  to  themselves 
wives  from  among  their  Indian  friends.  Much 
of  the  knowledge  gained  from  these  sources 
was  incorporated  in  Delisle's  map  of  1703, 
which  shows  the  principal  lakes  and  rivers, 
especially  of  the  southern  and  eastern  water- 
sheds of  the  peninsula,  in  marked  contrast  to 
the  lack  of  detail  found  on  English  maps  of 
the  same  period  used  in  the  delineation  of  the 
boundaries  between  the  territories  of  England 
and  France  as  laid  down  by  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht  in  1713. 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  was  formed  in 
1 669,  and  within  a  few  years  had  several  posts 

17 


■'> 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

established  at  the  mouths  of  rivevs  flowing  into 
Hudson  Bay,  where  for  many  years  they  con- 
fined their  trade  without  attempting  to  explore 
inland ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  forma- 
tion of  their  rival,  the  Northwest  Company,  in 
about  1 760,  that  they  were  forced  to  establish 
posts  inland.  Long  before  that  date  the 
French  had  trading  posts  scattered  throughout 
the  northern  interior  from  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  westward  to  the  foot  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  After  the  amalgamation  of  the 
Northwest  Company  with  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  in  1821,  the  following  trading  posts 
were  for  a  time  maintained  in  the  interior  of 
the  peninsula  :  Waswanipi,  Mistassini,  Temis- 
camie,  Metiskin,  Nichicun,  Kaniapiskau,  Fort 
Nascaupee,  Michikamau  and  Winokapau.  Of 
these  at  present  only  Waswanipi,  Mistassini 
and  Nichicun  remain.  The  ofificers  and  serv- 
ants of  the  company  employed  at  these  posts 
must  have  had  a  good  knowledge  of  the  inte- 
rior of  the  peninsula,  but,  until  quite  lately,  it 
was  the  policy  of  the  company  to  give  no  in- 
formation to  outsiders,  and,  in  consequence, 
all  such  knowledge  has  been  lost.  The  only 
officer  of  the  company  who  left  a  written 
account  of  his  journeys  through  Labrador  was 

18 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


>ini 
;rv- 
>sts 
ite- 


John  McLean,*  who  resided  at  Fort  Chimo  on 
Ungava  Bay,  and  made  several  trips  through 
the  interior  from  there  to  Hamilton  Inlet  be- 
tween 1838  and  1840,  on  the  way  discovering 
the  grand  falls  of  the  Hamilton  River. 

The  first  exploration  undertaken  by  the 
Canadian  government  was  that  of  H.  Y.  H. 
Hind  in  1862.  He  ascended  the  Moisie  River 
some  200  miles  ;  and  from  his  observations 
and  information  obtained  from  Indians  and 
others  wrote  two  large  volumes,  which  until 
quite  recently  were  the  standard  authority  on 
matters  relating  to  the  Labrador  Peninsula. 
In  1870  and  1871  parties  were  sent  out  by  the 
Geological  Survey  to  explore  the  country 
between  Lake  St.  John  and  Lake  Mistassini, 
and  in  1884,  owing  to  the  absurd  rumors  as  to 
the  immense  size  of  Lake  Mistassini,  an  expe- 
dition was  organized  to  complete  the  survey  of 
the  lake.  I  was  attached  as  geologist  to  the 
party,  and  in  the  spring  of  1885  was  promoted 
to  the  charge  of  the  expedition.  We  com- 
pleted the  survey  of  the  lake,  finding  it,  as 
was  expected,  about  100  miles  long,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  the  enthusiasts  who,  on  the 
strength  of  Indian  stories,  had  claimed  that  it 

•  Twenty-five  Years  in  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory. 

»9 


Vlf. 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

was  equal  to,  if  it  did  not  exceed,  the  size  of 
Lake  Superior.  On  the  completion  of  the 
survey  of  Lake  Mistassini  I  descended  its 
outlet,  the  Rupert  River,  to  James  Bay,  and 
returned  home  by  ascending  the  Moose  River 
to  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  north  of  Lake 
Superior. 

In  1887  and  1888  I  was  employed  on  ex- 
ploratory work  among  the  islands  of  James 
Bay  and  on  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  east 
side  of  Hudson  Bay.  In  1887  R.  F.  Holmes 
attempted  to  reach  the  Grand  Falls  of  the 
Hamilton  River  by  ascending  the  river  from 
its  mouth,  but,  owing  to  lack  of  proper  equip- 
ment and  a  poor  crew,  was  obliged  to  return 
without  accomplishing  his  purpose.  On  his 
return  to  England  he  published  an  account  of 
h*s  trip  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society.  Arguing  from  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  interior  plateau  as  given  by  Hind, 
and  from  the  height  of  the  river  below  the 
falls,  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  total 
fall  must  be  about  2,000  feet,  and  inferred  that 
it  was  all  made  in  a  single  jump. 

In  1 89 1,  fired  by  Holmes'  account,  two 
separate  expeditions  started  from  the  United 
States  to  discover  the  falls,  and  both  reached 

ao 


!lill!| 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 

them  within  a  few  days  of  eacli  other.  To 
Austin  Gary  and  D.  M.  Cole,*  of  the  Bowdoln 
College  exi)edition,  fell  the  honor  of  first 
arrival.  Unfortunately  they  burnt  their  boat 
and  outfit,  and  were  obliged  to  tramp  and  raft 
down  stream  250  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  On  their  way  down  they  passed  unseen 
Henry  G.  Bryant  f  and  C.  A.  Kenaston,  who 
were  on  their  way  up.  These  latter  made  a 
careful  determination  of  the  falls,  finding  the 
drop  to  be  slightly  over  300  feet,  and  thus 
shattered  the  belief  in  another  of  the  marvel- 
ous wonders  of  unknown  Labrador. 

In  1892  I  was  sent  to  explore  the  East  Main 
River,  which  flows  westward,  close  to  the  fifty- 
second  parallel,  into  Hudson  Bay,  to  deter- 
mine its  suitability  for  a  natural  boundary 
between  the  Province  of  Quebec  and  the 
northern  territories  of  the  Dominion.  I  as- 
cended the  Ashouapmouchouan  River  from 
Lake  St.  John  to  the  Height  of  Land,  passed 
through  Lake  Mislaosiori  and  proceeded  north- 
ward about  100  miles  to  the  East  Main  River, 
and  followed  it  downward  some  300  miles  to 


*Bull.  Am.  Geog.  Soc,  Vol.  XXIV. 

f  A  Journey  to  the  Grand  Falls  of  Labrador.     Geog,  Club,  Phila- 
delphia. 


ai 


■^. 


Trail  and  Camp-FIre 

its  mouth.  The  following  year  in  continuation 
of  the  boundary  work,  I  again  reached  the  East 
Main  by  the  same  route,  and  then  ascended  it 
150  miles  to  its  source  ;  from  there  we  crossed 
several  branches  of  the  Big  River,  which  also 
flows  into  Hudson  Bay,  and  so  reached  the 
upper  part  of  the  southern  branch  of  the 
Koksoak  River,  and  followed  its  course  down- 
ward to  Ungava  Bay.  From  there  we  took 
passage  in  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's 
steamer  to  Hamilton  Inlet,  where  we  passed 
the  early  part  of  the  winter  at  Northwest 
River,  a  small  post  near  its  head. 

In  March,  1894,  we  started  inland,  hauling 
on  sleds,  up  the  Hamilton  River,  outfit  and 
provisions  sufficient  for  the  next  summer's 
work.  The  quantity  was  so  great  that  it  re- 
quired four  trips  to  move  it,  and  in  conse- 
quence our  progress  was  very  slow — about 
twenty-five  miles  a  week.  After  considerable 
hardship  and  trouble  we  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Grand  Falls  on  the 
19th  of  May,  when  the  advent  of  spring  soon 
brought  open  water,  and  with  it  easier  canoe 
travel.  During  the  summer  we  explored  two 
branches  of  the  Hamilton  River  and  Lake 
Michikamau,  which  lies  to  the  north  at  the 

33 


% 


h 


m 
af 


■  't 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


ling 
the 


Inoe 


lake 

Ithe 


head  of  the  Northwest  River,  and  which  is 
second  in  size  only  to  Lake  Mistassini.  In 
August  we  proceeded  southward  by  way  of  the 
Romaine  and  St.  John  rivers,  and  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  latter  at  the  end  of  the  month, 
after  an  absence  of  sixteen  months  from 
civilization. 

In  1895  I  spent  two  months  in  exploring 
the  country  about  the  central  area  on  the 
headwaters  of  the  Manicougan  River  that 
flows  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  Big 
River  of  Hudson  Bay  and  the  Koksoak  of 
Ungava  Bay.  Last  summer  I  made  a  trip 
across  the  northern  part  of  the  peninsula  from 
Richmond  Gulf  on  Hudson  Bay  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Koksoak  River. 

The  results  of  the  past  fiva  years  explora- 
tions in  conjunction  with  the  previous  work 
done  in  Labrador  are  sufficient  to  give  a  gen- 
eral idea  of  the  physical  features  and  natural 
resources  of  the  peninsula ;  and  there  only 
remains  an  area  of  about  ioo,(X)0  square  miles 
in  the  northwestern  part  totally  unknown,  but 
even  this  will  be  partly  explored  during  the 
coming  summer  (1897)  by  the  expedition  to 
be  sent  out  in  May  to  Hudson  Strait  and 
thence  to  work  southward. 

33 


"''w 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

The  outline  of  the  peninsula  is  roughly  that 
of  a  right-angled  triangle,  the  base  being  a 
line  drawn  from  the  foot  of  James  Bay  east- 
ward to  where  it  reaches  the  north  shore  of 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  latitude  50  degrees,  and  from  there  follow- 
ing the  coast  to  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle.  The 
perpendicular,  which  is  about  the  same  length 
as  the  base,  or  1,000  miles,  is  represented 
by  the  coast  fronting  on  Hudson  Bay,  which 
runs  nearly  north  and  south ;  the  remaining 
side  is  formed  by  the  coast  line  facing  the 
Atlantic  and  Hudson  Strait,  and,  owing  to  the 
great  jog  caused  by  Ungava  Bay,  has  a  length 
of  nearly  2,000  miles.  The  total  area  of  the 
peninsula  is  nearly  550,000  square  miles,  or 
equal  to  one-sixth  of  the  area  of  Canada  or 
the  United  States.  The  southern  part  of  this 
vast  territory  belongs  to  the  Province  of  Que- 
bec, the  East  Main  and  Hamilton  rivers  being 
the  natural  boundary  between  the  Province 
and  Ungava  District  on  the  north  belonging 
to  the  Dominion.  A  strip  of  coast  extending 
from  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle  to  Cape  Chidley 
at  the  eastern  entrance  of  Hudson  Strait  is 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  government  of 
Newfoundland. 


illlhh 


111 


'=^v. 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


Labrador  may  be  considered  as  a  plateau, 
which,  except  in  a  fev»r  places,  rises  abruptly 
from  the  coast  to  a  general  elevation  of  1,500 
feet  above  sea  level,  while  the  central  area  has 
a  general  elevation  of  nearly  2,000  feet.  This 
plateau  has  an  undulating  surface,  broken  by 
ranges  of  rocky  hills  that  rise  from  400  feet  to 
800  feet  above  the  general  level,  while  minor 
ridges  of  glacial  drift,  from  50  feet  to  200  feet 
high,  also  break  the  general  contour.  The 
wide,  irregular  valleys  between  these  ridges 
are  covered  with  innumerable  lakes  that  vary 
in  size  from  great  bodies  of  water  100  miles 
long  to  mere  ponds.  The  lakes  are  connected 
by  networks  of  streams,  so  that  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  country  a  journey  in  almost  any 
direction  may  be  made  with  canoes  without 
portages  exceeding  two  or  three  miles  in  length, 
and,  as  a  rule,  less  than  half  a  mile  longo  There 
are  four  principal  watersheds ;  the  western, 
with  its  rivers  flowing  into  Hudson  Bay,  is 
the  greatest ;  next  in  area  is  the  northern, 
followed  by  the  southern,  and  the  last  is  the 
eastern,  where,  with  the  exception  of  the 
large  rivers  emptying  into  Hamilton  Inlet,  no 
streams  of  importance  occur,  owing  to  a  high 
coastal  range  which  throws  most  of  the  drairi- 

25 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


age  to  the  northward.  Toward  their  heads 
the  rivers  flow  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  sur- 
rounding country  without  definite  valleys,  but 
as  they  approach  the  coast  they  descend  into 
deep  valleys,  which  they  follow  to  the  sea. 
The  Saguenay  is  an  example  of  one  of  these 
valleys,  cut  down  1,500  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  surrounding  country,  while  the  valley 
of  the  Hamilton  extends  400  miles  inland,  and 
is  everywhere  several  hundred  feet  below  the 
general  level. 

As  might  be  expected  with  a  range  of 
1,000  miles  in  latitude,  there  are  great  dif- 
ferences in  climate  between  the  southern  and 
northern  portions  of  Labrador.  Along  the 
shore  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  hardy  crops 
are  easily  grown,  and  many  of  the  river-valleys 
are  well  fitted  for  settlement.  As  the  central 
area  is  approached  the  climate  becomes  more 
rigorous,  and  varies  from  temperate  in  sum- 
mer to  extreme  cold  in  winter,  when  the  ther- 
mometer often  registers  50  degrees  below 
zero.  Along  the  coast  of  Hudson  Bay  good 
root  crops  are  raised  at  Fort  George  in  lati- 
tude 54  degrees,  but  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
the  summer  temperature  is  so  lowered  by  the 

ice-laden  arctic  current  that  only  at  the  heads 

26 


''""*S.l: 


1 
■■■Ji 


more 
1  sum- 
!  ther- 
below 

good 
in  lati- 

coast 
by  the 
;  heads 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 

of  the  long  fiords  can  vegetables  be  grown  in 
the  open  air. 

The  southern  watershed,  south  of  latitude 
52  degrees,  is  generally  well  wooded,  and  on 
^the  central  plateau  black  spruce,  larch  and 
^  white  birch  grow,  but  they  are  generally  very 
small.  After  passing  northward  of  latitude 
52  degrees  the  summits  of  the  hills  become 
bare,  and  continuing  northward  the  barren 
areas  increase,  so  that  in  latitude  55  degrees 
only  small,  stunted  trees  are  found  about  the 
low  margins  of  lakes  and  water-courses,  while 
beyond  latitude  58  degrees  the  conifers  cease 
to  grow,  and  small  arctic  willows  and  birches 
alone  are  met  with. 

The  interior  is  inhabited  during  the  winter 

by  a  few  families  of  Indians  belonging  to  the 

Algonquin  or  Cree  family.     They  are  divided 

into  three  tribes,  the  Montagnais  of  the  south, 

|the  Nascaupees  of  the  northern  interior  and 

Ihe  coastal  tribe  of  Hudson  Bay.     During  the 

Rummer   nearly  all   descend   to   the   Hudson 

ifeay  posts  on  the  coasts  to  trade  and  to  meet 

their  relatives  and  friends ;  and  they  usually 

remain  at  the  coast  from  one  to  three  months. 

The  Eskimo  are  found  scattered  along  the 

ioast  from  Hamilton  Inlet  to  Hudson  Strait 

27 


m 


I 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

and  down  the  east  coast  of  Hudson  Bay  to 
Fort  Georore.  The  west  branch  of  the  Kok- 
soak  River,  which  closely  parallels  latitude 
58  degrees,  forms  the  dividing  line  between 
the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Eskimo  and  the 
Indians  in  the  interior ;  south  of  this  line  the 
Eskimo  confine  themselves  to  the  coast.  Al- 
though no  longer  at  war,  there  is  no  love  lost 
between  these  races,  and  they  rarely  associate 
and  never  intermarry. 

Travel  in  the  interior  of  Labrador  is  con- 
fined to  canoes  in  summer  and  to  walking  in 
winter.  Notwithstanding  Gilbert  Parker,  who 
sends  a  man  across  Labrador  from  Ungava  on 
a  well-beaten  trail,  it  is  impossible  to  travel  on 
foot  except  when  the  streams  and  lakes  are 
frozen,  on  account  of  the  long,  irregular  bays 
of  lakes  that  stretch  out  in  all  directions,  as 
well  as  the  many  deep,  mossy  swamps  which 
occupy  the  lower  grounds  when  lakes  are 
absent.  Pack  animals  cannot  be  used  because 
of  the  lack  of  fodder,  the  southern  country 
being  deeply  covered  with  moss,  while  the 
northern  barrens  are  clad  with  a  mantle  of 
white  lichens  with  little  or  no  grass.  The  fre- 
quent portages  put  the  use  of  heavy  boats  out 

of  the  question,  and  reduce  the  modes  of  sum- 

28 


4i 


Mm\ 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


3  ay  to 
:  Kok- 
ititude 
etween 
nd  the 
ine  the 
t.  Al- 
ive  lost 
isociate 

is  con- 
king in 
:er,  who 
rava  on 
avel  on 
kes  are 
iar  bays 
ions,  as 

which 
kes  are 
because 
country 
lile  the 

ntle  of 
The  fre- 
oats  out 

of  sum* 


-1 


mer  travel  to  canoes  only.  The  Indians  and 
Hudson  Bay  Company  use  bark  canoes,  but 
my  experience  is  that  a  cedar  canoe  is  much 
better,  as  it  carries  more  in  proportion  to  size, 
paddles  and  poles  easier  and  faster,  is  much 
more  easily  mended,  and  does  not  constantly 
leak,  and  is  but  little  heavier  than  a  bark 
canoe.  Of  course,  much  depends  on  the 
model  of  the  canoe,  the  ordinary  straight, 
shallow,  paddling  canoes  of  civilization  being 
simply  an  abomination  on  long  trips. 

In  winter,  dogs  are  used  on  the  coast,  but 
owing  to  the  lack  of  convenient  stores  of  food, 
they  cannot  be  employed  in  the  interior  for  any 
extended  time,  as  a  dog  can  only  haul  sufficient 
food  to  last  him  two  weeks,  and  in  the  depth 
of  winter,  when  the  going  is  heavy,  his  effective 
load  would  be  much  less.  The  barren-ground 
caribou  has  not  been  used  for  hauling,  and  so 
winter  transport  in  the  interior  must  be  done 
by  men.  In  the  winter,  when  the  snow  is 
deep,  a  long,  narrow  toboggan  is  used,  and  the 
load  is  about  200  pounds ;  in  the  cold,  short 
days  ten  miles  may  be  taken  to  be  a  good 
day's  travel,  and  I  know  of  no  harder  work 
than  hauling  such  a  load  over  the  gritty  snow, 
in  which  the  sleighs  stick  and  must  be  hauled 

29 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

by  main  strength  up  and  down  hill  alike.  In 
the  spring,  when  the  sun  and  rain  has  formed 
a  crust  on  the  snow,  the  toboggans  are  ex- 
changed for  sleds,  and  the  going  is  much 
easier,  so  that  a  man  can  without  great  diffi- 
culty haul  a  load  of  300  pounds  twenty-five 
miles  in  a  day.  A  serious  hindrance  to  ex- 
tended travel  is  caused  by  the  absence  of  any 
assured  supplies  in  the  interior,  especially  dur- 
ing the  summer,  when  the  small  Hudson  Bay 
posts  are  absolutely  without  supplies  of  any 
kind,  and  when  the  few  people  remaining  at 
them  depend  wholly  on  the  fish  caught  in  nets 
from  day  to  day.  Game  and  fish,  although 
not  scarce,  cannot  be  depended  on,  and  a  full 
supply  of  food  must  be  taken  from  the  coast 
to  escape  the  chance  of  starvation.  Of  course, 
if  time  is  no  object,  stops  might  be  made 
where  fish  or  game  are  abundant*  and  a  store 
of  dried  provisions  laid  in,  but  for  constant 
travel  no  dependence  can  be  placed  on  the 
game  to  supply  the  daily  wants  of  a  moder- 
ately large  party. 

In  the  following  notes  on  the  game  of  Lab- 
rador I  have  attempted  to  give  what  informa- 
tion I  can,  of  interest  to  the  sportsman,  in 
regard  to  the  distribution  and  habits  of  the 

30 


-v 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


\.\u 

various  species,  leaving  out  much  that  is  of 
value  only  to  the  naturalist,  and  therefore 
somewhat  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  paper. 
As  a  region  for  big  game  the  Labrador 
Peninsula  may  not  compare  favorably  with 
the  great  game  preserves  of  Africa  or  Asia, 
and  many  better  hunting  grounds  may  be 
; found  in  the  West  and  Northwest;  but,  al- 
though not  a  sportsman's  paradise,  there  are 
many  places  where  good  bags  may  be  made, 
especially  in  the  barren  and  semi-barren  lands 
of  the  northern  interior. 

Following  the  natural  order,  the  wolf  (Cams 

lupus,  Linn.)  is  the  first  of  the  game  animals 

^met  with  in  Labrador.     For  some  unaccount- 

table  reason  wolves  are  rarely  met  with  any- 

4  where  in  Labrador,  even  where  the  great  herds 

j^of  barren-ground  caribou  afford  easy  prey.     In 

|^:|the  more  southern  regions  the  scarcity  of  cari- 

M)ou  may  account  for  the  few  wolves  found 

,^here,  few  skins  being  traded  at  the  Hudson 

ky  posts,  and  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  a 

rolf  during  my  journeys  through  the  interior. 

The  arctic  wolf  (Cams  lupus,  van  albus)  is 

ilso   only   occasionally  taken    in    the   barren 

rrounds,   and  does  not  appear  to   enter  the 

timbered  regions  of  the  interior. 


31 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

The  fox  {Vulpes  vulgaris,  Fleming)  is  com- 
mon throughout  the  peninsula,  from  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  shores  of  Hudson 
Strait.  The  red,  cross  and  silver  or  black 
foxes  are  only  color  varieties  of  the  same 
species,  as  on  the  Moose  River  I  found  a  lit- 
ter containing  two  red,  three  cross  and  two 
black  kittens,  showing  that  the  color  no  more 
constitutes  varieties  than  does  the  difference 
of  color  in  a  litter  of  the  kittens  of  the  common 
cat.  In  the  northern  regions  there  appears  to 
be  a  larger  proportion  of  dark-colored  and 
more  valuable  foxes  than  in  the  south. 

The  arctic  fox  {Vulpes  lagopus,  Linn.)  oc- 
curs abundantly  in  the  barren  ground  and 
southward  to  Nichicun.  Along  the  seaboard 
they  range  further  southward,  descending  to 
the  southern  part  of  James  Bay,  and  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  are  plentiful  about  Hamilton 
Inlet,  and  more  rarely  southward  to  the  Strait 
of  Belle  Isle,  on  their  migrations  during  the 
winter  from  the  north. 

The  barren-ground  hear  {(7rsus arclos,  Rich.) 
is  undoubtedly  found  in  the  barrens  of  Labra- 
dor, as  skins  are  brought  in  at  intervals  to 
Fort  Chimo  when  the  Indians  have  a  favora- 
ble chance  of  killing  it.     On  other  occasions 

32 


;i;l'i!;i:!|^ 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


in.)  oc- 
nd  and 
aboard 
ding  to 
on  the 
amilton 
Strait 
ing  the 

Rich.) 

Labra- 

■vals  to 

favora- 

;casions 


ihey  leave  it  alone,  having  a  great  respect  and 
fear  for  its  ferocity  and  size.  While  descend- 
ing the  south  branch  of  the  Koksoak  River  in 
fl894  we  saw  tracks  along  the  banks  which  my 

fndians  said  were  much  larger  than  those  of 
ny  black  bear  they  had  ever  seen  ;  unfortu- 
•  ftately  we  did  not  get  sight  of  the  animal. 

The  black  bear  {Urstis  amcricanus,  Pallas) 
is  found  everywhere  in  the  wooded  country, 
and  a  few  are  killed  in  the  semi-barrens  as  far 
north  as  latitude  56  degrees.  During  August 
and  September  bears  are  commonly  met  with 
in  the  valleys  of  any  of  the  southern  rivers 
where  there  are  extensive  burnt  areas  covered 
^ith  blueberries,  on  which  the  bears  feed  and 
grow  fat.  I  have  followed  several  of  these 
Streams,  and  have  never  failed  to  see  several 
bears.  Assured  sport  may  be  obtained  on  a 
trip  up  any  of  the  rivers  emptying  into  the  St. 
Lawrence,  but  probably  the  best  place  for 
bear  hunting  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Hamilton 
River,  below  the  Grand  Falls.  The  food  con- 
ditions are  perfect,  and,  as  the  upper  part  of 
^e  valley  is  not  hunted  by  the  Indians,  the 

jars  are  very  plentiful,  and  a  good  bag  would 

idoubtedly  be    made    there    in    the    early 

itumn. 


P 


33 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

The  polar  bear  (^Thalassarctos  maritimus, 
Linn.)  as  a  rule  is  confined  to  the  coast,  and 
goes  inland  only  in  the  early  spring  to  pro- 
duce its  young.  At  such  times  it  is  met  with 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  miles  inland.  It  is 
not  common  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  owing  to 
the  number  of  fishermen  from  Newfoundland 
who  pass  the  summer  there  engaged  in  the 
cod  fishery.  These  people  kill  all  the  bears 
that  stray  southward  on  the  ice  in  summer, 
and  prevent  any  breeding  along  the  coast 
To  the  northward  of  the  cod  fishery,  in  Hud- 
son Strait,  polar  bears  are  common,  and  great 
numbers  are  annually  killed  by  the  Eskimo. 
The  Hudson  Bay  Company's  ships  on  their 
passage  through  the  Strait  usually  get  several 
among  the  ice.  The  most  accessible  place  for 
polar  bears  is  the  outer  islands  of  James  Bay, 
where  the  animals  are  seldom  hunted.  In  this 
locality  I  killed  four  bears  during  the  summer 
of  1887,  besides  seeing  several  others.  Moose 
factory  may  be  reached  by  a  canoe  trip  of  a 
week  or  ten  days  from  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  and  arrangements  for  boats  could  be 
made  with  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  so  that 
the  islands  might  be  visited,  and  the  round  trip 
made  in  six  or  eight  weeks,  with  almost  a  cer- 

34 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


iiitnus, 
,st,  and 
to  pro 
et  with 
,  It  is 
ving  to 
indland 

in  the 
e  bears 
lummer, 
;  coast 
in  Hud- 
id  great 
Eskimo, 
on  their 
:  several 
Dlace  for 
les  Bay, 
In  this 

summer 
Moose 
rip  of  a 
Xi  Pacific 
could  be 
r,  so  that 
)und  trip 
3st  a  cer- 


tainty of  bagging  bears,  as  well  as  of  good 
Sport  with  ducks  and  geese,  which  breed  in 
large  numbers  on  the  islands. 

The  moose  {Alee  americantis,  Jardine)  is 
only  found  in  the  southwest  portion  of  Labra- 
dor. It  does  not  occur  to  the  east  of  the 
Saguenay,  and  to  the  west  of  that  river  its 
northern  limit  hardly  reaches  to  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  peninsula.  Moose  are  found 
in  the  region  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Lake  St.  John,  and  westward  about  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  St.  Maurice  and  other  streams 
flowing  southward  into  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Ottawa  rivers.  They  are  most  abundant  about 
the  headwaters  of  the  Ottawa  to  the  north- 
ward of  Mattawa.  The  building  of  railways 
and  the  settlement  of  the  country  about  Lake 
Temiscaming  is  driving  the  moose  northward, 
so  that  for  the  past  few  years  a  number  have 
been  killed  about  the  southern  part  of  James 
Bay,  where  for  many  years  previous  none  had 
|been  taken. 

Woodland  caribou  {Rangifer  caribou,  Linn.) 
^are  found  in  the  southern  wooded  part  of  the 
)eninsula,  ranging  northward  into  the  semi- 
)arren  regions,  where  they  overlap  the  south- 
ern range  of  the  barren-ground  caribou.  About 

9S 


%:■ 


I 


■II' 


Trail  and  Camp-FIre 

twenty-five  years  ago  caribou  were  very  numer. 
ous  on  the  southern  and  western  watersheds, 
but  owing  to  the  enormous  areas  then  swept 
by  fire,  the  caribou  were  practically  extermi- 
nated, either  directly  by  the  fire  or  indirectly 
from  the  ease  with  which  they  were  hunted 
in  the  restricted  areas  of  greenwoods  by  the 
Indians,  whose  southern  hunting  lands  were 
destroyed,  and  who  were  obliged  to  hunt 
closely  in  order  to  exist.  Within  a  few  years 
the  interior  became  almost  wholly  depleted  of 
caribou,  and  then  the  Indians  died  in  numbers 
from  starvation  owing  to  the  failure  to  find 
deer.  Within  the  past  few  years  the  caribou 
have  been  increasing  throughout  the  interior, 
and  they  will  probably  soon  again  be  quite 
numerous.  At  present  probably  the  most  sat- 
isfactory hunting  grounds  for  woodland  cari- 
bou are  to  be  found  in  the  southern  country 
to  the  west  of  the  Saguenay,  including  the 
Lake  St.  John,  St.  Maurice  and  Ottawa 
regions,  or  along  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  St 
Lawrence  eastward  to  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle, 
the  caribou  becoming  most  numerous  toward 
the  east. 

The  barren-ground  caribou  (Rangt/ergroe/nr 
landicus,  Linn.)  ranges  in  immense  bands  over 

36 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


the  barren  and  semi-barren  lands.  On  the 
Atlantic  coast  they  are  found  as  far  south  as 
the  Mealy  Mountains,  a  high  barren  range 
between  Hamilton  Inlet  and  Sandwich  Bay; 
to  the  northward  they  come  out  on  the  coast 
between  Hamilton  Inlet  and  Nain  during  the 
winter,  and  are  then  killed  in  great  numbers 
by  the  inhabitants.  During  the  winter  of 
1895-96  upwards  of  5,000  animals  were  slaugh- 
tered by  the  natives  about  Davis  Inlet,  and 
more  than  half  of  them  were  left  to  decay  in 
the  woods  without  removing  even  the  skins. 
From  information  obtained  from  the  northern 
Indians  and  my  own  observations  there  ap- 
pear to  be  three  principal  bands  of  the  barren- 
ground  caribou  in  northern  Labrador.  The 
first  and  smallest  passes  the  winter  on  the 
coast  of  Hudson  Bay  and  the  immediate  inte- 
rior, passing  northward  in  the  summer  to  the 
barren  lands  beyond  Clearwater  and  Seal 
lakes.  The  second  band  comes  southward 
during  the  fall,  and  winters  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Koksoak  and  its  branches  ;  the  third  band 
is  that  already  referred  to  as  being  found  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.  During  the  summer  this 
band  retreats  to  the  highlands  to  the  north- 
ward  of    Nain,   and  in    September   migrates 

37 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

southward.  In  doing  so  it  divides  into  about 
equal  parts,  one  portion  following  the  coast, 
the  other  passing  inland  and  wintering  in  the 
partly  wooded  country  about  the  headwaters 
of  the  Hamilton  and  Ungava  rivers.  There 
appear  to  be  great  fluctuations  in  the  size  of 
the  bands,  and  at  times  they  almost  disappear 
for  a  number  of  years,  as  was  the  case  with 
the  Ungava  band  in  1892,  when,  after  a  year 
of  great  slaughter,  the  deer  failed  to  return, 
and  in  consequence  the  Indians,  who  depend 
upon  them  for  food  and  clothing,  were  re- 
duced to  such  straits  that  upward  of  1 75  per- 
sons died  of  starvation  and  exposure.  I  have 
found  in  the  old  journals  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  that  similar  calamities  have  hap- 
pened two  or  three  times  during  the  present 
century,  caused  directly  by  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  by  the  Indians,  who  either  nearly 
exterminated  the  band,  or,  as  they  believe, 
frightened  away  the  deer  by  the  stench  of  the 
decaying  bodies  lying- about  ever)  where.  The 
destruction  of  the  Indians  follows  that  of  the 
deer,  and  then  the  latter  have  a  chance  to  in- 
crease, as  in  the  case  with  the  Ungava  herd 
at  present,  where,  after  two  or  three  years  of 
practical  disappearance,  the  increase  is  becom- 

38 


mi 


''"5 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


ing  quite  marked.  The  best  and  easiest  place 
to  make  a  hunt  for  trophies  is  on  the  hills  in 
the  rear  of  Nain.  Until  the  end  of  October  a 
steamer  runs  up  the  coast  every  two  weeks, 
and  calls  at  Nain,  where  Eskimo  guides  may 
be  obtained.  In  September  the  horns  are  per- 
fect, and  the  bucks  are  beginning  to  be  lively, 
but  have  not  yet  congregated  into  large  bands, 
and  consequently  require  some  skill  in  hunt- 
ing, which  is  not  the  case  when  the  migrations 
take  place,  as  then  the  poor  animals  may  be 
shot  down  easily,  and  the  sport  resembles  that 
of  a  slaughter-yard. 

In  closing  the  list  of  game  animals  of  Lab- 
rador mention  may  be  made  of  the  fur-bearing 
animals,  including  the  marten,  weasel,  ermine, 
mink,  wolverine,  otter,  beaver,  muskrat  and  the 
common  and  arctic  hares,  all  of  which  afford 
large  quantities  of  valuable  furs,  the  fur  of 
Labrador  being  superior  to  that  of  any  other 
part  of  the  American  continent. 

Ducks  and  geese  afford  good  shooting  along 
the  coasts  of  Labrador,  especially  on  the  west 
coast  fronting  on  James  Bay,  where  the  low 
-shores  and  swampy,  grass-covered  flats  serve 
as  excellent  feeding  grounds.  Inland,  the  ab- 
sence of  suitable  food  in  the  small  lakes  and 

39 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

ponds  accounts  for  the  scarcity  of  graminace- 
ous duck  and  geese. 

The  Canada  goose  is  met  with  in  summer 
on  all  the  northern  rivers  and  larger  lakes,  and 
affords  exciting  sport  during  the  moulting  sea- 
son, when  they  cannot  fly,  and  are  chased  in 
canoes  and  killed  with  the  paddles.  This,  to 
be  sure,  cannot  be  called  sport  in  its  true 
sense,  but  it  is  great  fun,  and  also  provides  a 
change  of  diet.  Along  the  coasts  the  Canada 
goose  is  met  with  frequently,  and  it  breeds  in 
large  numbers  on  the  outer  islands  of  James 
Bay. 

The  snow  geese  or  wavies,  until  within  a  few 
years  back,  were  killed  by  tens  of  thousands 
on  Hudson  Bay  on  their  way  to  and  from 
their  breeding  grounds  in  the  far  north,  but 
the  settlement  of  the  northwest  appears  to 
have  greatly  reduced  their  numbers,  so  that 
the  Hudson  Bay  posts  on  the  bay  can  no 
longer  depend  upon  salt  goose  as  the  principal 
article  of  food  throughout  the  year. 

The  brant  goose  is  shot  in  large  numbers 
along  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence in  spring  and  autumn,  but  they  are 
never  seen  elsewhere  in  Labrador,  being  un- 
known to  the  northern  Indians.     They  must 

40 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


iinace* 

immer 
2s,  and 
ng  sea- 
Lsed  in 
i'his,  to 
:s  true 
vides  a 
[Canada 
eeds  in 
i  James 

in  a  few 
Dusands 
L  from 
rth,  but 
tears  to 
so  that 
can  no 
trincipal 

lumbers 
5t.  Law- 
hey  are 
iing  un- 
ey  must 


pass  direct  from  the  St.   Lawrence  to  their 
breeding  grounds  north  of  Hudson  Strait. 

Swans  breed  on  the  Belcher  Islands,  a  chain, 
of  large  islands  that  lie  about  seventy-five 
miles  off  the  east  coast  of  Hudson  Bay  oppo- 
site to  Great  Whale  River.  These  islands 
have  not  yet  been  visited  by  white  men,  but  I 
have  seen  swan  feathers  from  there  with  the 
Eskimo  at  Great  Whale  River. 

Black,  pintail  and  teal  ducks  are  the  most 
common  species  found  about  the  shores  of 
Hudson  Bay,  and  the  first  two  breed  there  in 
great  numbers.  In  the  interior  the  black  duck 
only  is  found,  and  is  uncommon,  owing  to  the 
absence  of  proper  feeding  grounds.  The  fish- 
eating  ducks  are  common  on  the  coasts  and  in 
the  interior,  where  they  are  represented  by 
two  species  of  mergansers,  scoters,  golden- 
eye,  whistler  and  surf  ducks,  along  with  the 
common  and  red-breasted  loon,  while  on  the 
coast  eider  ducks  are  very  numerous. 

The  grouse  are  represented  by  five  species — 
the  ruffed,  Canada,  sharp-tailed,  willow  and 
rock  ptarmigan.  The  ruffed  grouse  is  abun- 
dant throughout  the  southern  interior,  north- 
ward to  Lake  Mistassini  and  the  Hamilton 
River.     The  Canada  grouse  is  common  to  the 

41 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

edge  of  the  barren  grounds,  or  to  latitude  57 
degrees.  On  Hamilton  Inlet  they  are  very 
numerous  in  the  late  autumn,  when  they  ap- 
pear to  migrate  inland,  and  are  then  so  tame 
that  they  are  snared  with  a  loop  on  the  end  of 
a  stick,  and  when  shot  the  charge  consists  of 
four  or  five  grains  of  BB  shot. 

The  range  of  the  sharp-tailed  grouse  is  con- 
fined to  the  shores  and  islands  of  James  Bay, 
where  it  is  known  as  the  "pheasant."  In  1887 
I  obtained  a  clutch  of  eggs  of  this  bird  at  the 
mouth  of  the  East  Main  River,  and  in  1892 
shot  a  number  of  young  birds  near  that  place, 
while  last  year  I  procured  skins  of  adults  along 
the  east  coast  to  beyond  Fort  George  in  lati- 
tude 54  degrees.  The  inhabitants  informed 
me  that  it  v/as  quite  common  along  the  coast, 
where  it  feeds  on  the  different  small  fruits 
found  there  in  abundance. 

The  willow  ptarmigan  breeds  in  astonishing 
numbers  throughout  the  barren  and  semi-bar- 
ren lands,  and  is  found  abundantly  about  the 
willow-covered  banks  of  the  northern  lakes 
and  streams.  Being  a  free  flyer  it  affords 
much  better  sport  than  the  other  grouse, 
which  too  often  cannot  be  induced  to  fly  when 
once  treed.    The  willow  ptarmigan  pass  south- 

4a 


kill 


du( 


m 


Lide  57 
e  very 
ley  ap- 
3  tame 
end  of 
sists  of 

is  con- 
2S  Bay, 
In  1887 

I  at  the 
in  1892 
Lt  place, 
ts  along 
;  in  lati- 

formed 
e  coast, 

II  fruits 

jnishing 
emi-bar- 
)out  the 
rn  lakes 
;  affords 
grouse, 
fly  when 
iss  south' 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 

ward  into  the  wooded  country  during  the 
winter,  and  are  often  plentiful  during  that 
season  along  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence.  The  southern  migration  de- 
pends on  the  state  of  the  food  supply  in  the 
north,  and  the  birds  only  come  south  in  great 
numbers  when  the  willows  are  covered  with 
snow,  or  the  buds  encased  with  a  coating  of 
frozen  rain. 

The  rock  ptarmigan  is  a  smaller  and  more 
northern  species,  breeding  in  the  most  north- 
ern portion  of  the  peninsula,  and  coming  south 
only  in  the  winter.  Many  of  these  birds  breed 
on  the  north  side  of  Hudson  Strait  and  cross 
to  the  south  shore  in  September,  when  large 
numbers  alight  on  the  ships  then  passing 
through  the  strait. 

The  wading  birds  are  not  plentiful  inland, 
but  are  common  about  James  Bay  and  along 
the  Atlantic  coast.  Formerly  curlew  were 
killed  in  great  numbers,  both  on  Hudson  Bay 
and  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  but  of  late  years 
they  have  decreased  rapidly,  for  some  unac- 
countable reason.  The  conditions  in  the  north 
have  not  changed,  and  the  decrease  is  probably 
due  to  slaughter  on  their  wintering  grounds 
^in  the  south. 

43 


•Ih, 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

The  Labrador  Peninsula  may  not  contain 
the  quantity  and  variety  of  big  and  feathered 
game  found  in  the  west  and  northwest  por- 
tions of  the  continent,  but  no  apologies  are 
needed  for  its  game  fish,  which  are  unrivalled 
anywhere. 

The  salmon  fishing  of  the  rivers  flowing 
into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  on  its  north 
side  is  famous  the  world  over,  while  the  land- 
locked salmon,  lake  and  brook  trout  of  the 
interior  waters  afford  sport  that  cannot  be 
surpassed. 

The  Atlantic  salmon  (Salmo  salar)  is  found 
in  all  the  rivers  from  the  Saguenay  eastward 
to  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle,  thence  northward 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  to  Hudson  Strait,  and 
for  about  loo  miles  down  the  east  coast  of 
Hudson  Bay.  The  fishing  of  the  Gulf  is  too 
well  known  to  require  any  comment  here,  and 
I  will  confine  my  remarks  to  the  salmon  fish- 
ing of  the  eastern  and  northern  rivers.  The 
Atlantic  coast  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
government  of  Newfoundland  has  never  been 
ofificially  protected,  and  the  cod  fishermen 
have  been  allowed  to  use  trap  nets  indiscrim- 
inately, the  result  being  the  almost  total  ruin 
of  the  salmon  fishery,  which  only  a  few  years 

44 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


ago  equalled  or  surpassed  that  of  the  Cana- 
dian coast.  In  Hudson  Strait,  beyond  the 
ravages  of  the  cod-trap,  salmon  are  still 
abundant,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
make  profitable  net  fisheries  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  George,  Whale  and  Koksoak  rivers  of 
Ungava  Bay.  The  Eskimo  say  that  the  rivers 
of  the  strait,  to  the  westward  of  the  Koksoak 
and  for  about  lOo  miles  down  to  the  east 
coast  of  Hudson  Bay,  are  plentifully  stocked 
with  salmon.  Along  the  north  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  the  fish  strike  into  the 
river  early  in  June;  they  are  take  in  Hamil- 
ton Inlet  in  July,  but  they  do  not  ascend  the 
Koksoak  and  other  rivers  of  Ungava  Bay 
until  the  middle  of  August.  There  appears  to 
be  some  connection  between  the  time  that  the 
fish  strike  into  the  rivers  and  the  temperature 
of  the  water  along  the  coast,  the  northern 
waters  remaining  cold  longer  than  those  about 
the  southern  coasts. 

The  landlocked  variety  of  Salmo  salar  or 
ouinaniche  (diminutive  of  winan,  the  Cree 
word  for  salmon)  is  found  in  Lake  St.  John 
and  the  tributaries  of  the  Saguenay,  where  it 
has  free  access  to  the  sea ;  but  as  the  fish  is 
found    plentifully   in    both    branches   of    the 

45 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

uton  River  above  the  Grand  Falls,  as 
A  as  in  Lake  Michikamau  and  the  head- 
waters of  all  the  rivers  of  the  central  plateau, 
except  those  of  the  western  watershed,  with- 
out any  possible  communication  with  salt 
water,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  07iinanicke 
represents  the  original  salmon,  a  fresh-water 
fish,  and  that  the  Atlantic  salmon  has  for 
some  reason  acquired  an  anadromous  habit, 
like  the  sea-trout  variety  oi  Salvelinus  fontina- 
liSf  the  common  brook  trout.  Wherever  found 
the  ouinaniche  exhibits  the  game  qualities 
which  have  made  it  so  famous  in  the  Lake  St. 
John  region.  It  never  grows  to  the  size  of  its 
sea-going  brother,  and  rarely  exceeds  eight 
pounds  in  weight,  being  more  often  from  two 
to  four  pounds.  Good  sport  may  be  had  with 
this  fish  on  the  Upper  Hamilton  River,  at 
Lake  Michikamau,  on  the  Romaine  and  Mani- 
cougan  rivers  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  on  all 
the  rivers  of  Ungava  Bay. 

Hearne's  salmon,  or  the  Arctic  salmon,  is 
found  in  the  lower  parts  of  all  the  rivers  from 
Cape  Jones,  at  the  entrance  to  James  Bay, 
northward  through  Hudson  Strait  and  south- 
ward along  the  Atlantic  to  south  of  Nachvak. 

This  fish  is  not  a  salmon,  but  a  small-scaled 

46 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


trout,  quite  distinct  from  the  southern  sea 
trout,  which  is  only  an  anadromous  variety  of 
the  brook  trout  {Salvelinns  fontinalis).  It 
swarms  in  the  mouths  of  all  the  northern 
rivers,  which  it  enters  early  in  the  summer.  It 
rises  readily  to  a  fly,  and  when  hooked  jumps 
well  and  is  very  game.  The  weight  varies 
from  two  to  fifteen  pounds,  the  average  being 
about  seven  pounds,  and  altogether  it  is  a 
valuable  addition  to  the  eastern  game  fish. 
Last  year  I  brought  home  skins  of  this  fish, 
and  they  are  at  present  in  the  hands  of  Pro- 
fessor Prince,  of  the  Marine  and  Fisheries 
Department. 

The  brook  trout  (Salvclmus  foiitiiialis)  is 
found  in  all  the  streams  and  lakes  of  the  inte- 
rior, and  in  many  places  ranges  to  six  or  seven 
pounds  in  weight.  The  heavy  fish  are  usually 
found  in  the  lakes  and  moderate-sized  rivers; 
those  of  the  smaller  streams  usually  vary  in 
weight  from  a  half  to  two  pounds,  and  more 
than  make  up  in  quantity  for  the  lack  in 
weight.  In  the  very  large  rivers  only  small 
fish  are  caught,  probably  owing  to  the  large 
fish  congregating  in  deep  pools  away  from  the 
shores.  When  all  places  are  so  favorable  it  is 
hard  to  name  any  particular  locality  for  brook 

47 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

trout,  but  I  think  that  the  very  best  fishing  is 
found  on  the  Hamilton  River  above  the 
Grand  Falls,  and  from  there  to  the  heads  of 
both  branches  of  the  river.  In  every  rapid 
and  eddy  fish  varying  from  four  to  seven 
pounds  may  be  caught  in  unlimited  numbers. 

The  lake  trout  {Salvelimis  namaycusJi) 
abounds  in  all  the  lakes  and  in  the  larger 
rivers  before  they  leave  the  level  of  the  cen- 
tral area  and  descend  into  their  deep  valleys. 
The  averafje  wei^^ht  of  this  fish  is  about  ei^fht 
pounds,  but  individuals  up  to  thirty-five  pounds 
are  often  taken  by  deep  trolling,  set  lines  or 
nets  in  the  larger  lakes.  Good  fishing  with 
the  fly  is  often  found  under  patches  of  foam  in 
eddies,  but  the  fish  as  a  rule  are  sluggish,  and 
do  not  take  freely,  and  when  caught  do  not 
afford  nearly  as  much  sport  as  the  landlocked 
salmon  or  brook  trout. 

The  common  whitefish  {Coregonus  clupei- 
formis)  is  a  little-known  game  fish.  It  is 
found  abundantly  in  all  the  lakes  of  the  inte- 
rior, its  range  being  the  same  as  the  lake  trout, 
and  extends  to  the  shores  of  Hudson  Strait. 
It  is  also  found  in  the  rivers,  where  it  fre- 
quents foam-covered  eddies  along  with  trout 

and  ouinaniche.     In  fishing  for  these  latter  I 

48 


The  Labrador  Peninsula 


.?j? 


have  frequently  hooked  whitcfish,  especially 
with  rubber-winged  May  flies  or  with  midges 
on  No.  1 2  hooks,  as  they  very  seldom  take  the 
larger  trout  flies.  When  hooked,  the  whitefish 
is  very  game,  jumping  like  a  landlocked  sal- 
mon and  fighting  harder  than  a  trout.  As 
their  mouths  are  very  tender  great  care  is 
necessary  to  successfully  land  them. 

The  list  of  game  fish  of  the  peninsula  closes 
with  the  pike  (Esox  lucius)  and  the  pickerel 
{Stizostcdmm  vitreuni).  The  former  is  found 
in  all  the  rivers  and  most  of  the  lakes  north- 
ward to  latitude  56  degrees ;  the  latter  only 
occurs  in  the  western  rivers  of  the  southern 
watershed  and  in  the  southern  rivers  of  the 
western  watershed.  The  pike  ranges  from  two 
to  twenty  pounds  in  weight,  while  the  pickerel 
are  generally  taken  weighing  from  four  to  ten 
pounds. 

In  the  foregoing  short  notes  on  the  game  of 
the  Labrador  Peninsula,  I  have  endeavored  to 
give  a  brief  and  as  accurate  a  statement  as 
possible  of  the  numbers  and  range  of  the 
various  species,  in  order  that  it  may  serve  as 
a  guide  to  any  sportsman  who  may  think  of 
trying  his  luck  in  that  region.  I  have  rather 
underestimated  the  chances  of  obtaining  good 

49 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

sport  after  any  particular  j:fame,  and  have 
pointed  out  the  difficulties  in  connection  with 
travel  in  the  interior.  Except  for  barren- 
ground  caribou  and  bears,  only  moderate  sport 
can  be  expected  with  the  rifle  ;  excellent  shot- 
gun shooting  will  be  found  about  the  shores 
of  James  Bay,  and  good  sport  may  be  obtained 
in  many  places  along  the  coasts,  but  in  the 
southern  interior  little  use  for  a  gun  will  be 
found  during  the  summer. 

The  fishing  requires  no  apologies,  as  it  is 
always  good ;  and,  to  my  mind,  anyone  mak- 
ing a  trip  inland  must  do  so  with  the  idea  of 
getting  plenty  of  fish,  and  only  occasional 
good  sport  with  the  gun  or  rifle. 

A,  P.  Low. 


50 


"^5» 


•m 


I 


Cherry 

I  had  spent  a  good  many  hours  one  October 
day  on  the  Snake  River  plains  searching  for 
antelope,  and  it  was  well  along  toward  night- 
fall when  "  Rubber  Boots "  and  I  pulled  up 
before  the  door  at  the  ranch,  and  I  dis- 
mounted, leaving  Boots  to  the  care  of  the 
packer.  The  day  had  been  raw  and  cold,  and 
I  hurried  into  the  house  and  to  the  great  open 
fire.  I  was  a  little  blinded  by  the  light  at 
first,  and  turned  all  my  attention  to  the  fire, 
only  replying  to  the  usual  question  of  "  What 
luck?"  addressed  me  by  my  companion.  I  was 
unaware  of  the  presence  of  a  third  person 
until  I  heard  a  strange  voice  say,  evidently  in 
pursuance  of  a  conversation  which  had  been 
interrupted  by  my  entrance  :  "  For  those  big- 
gest trout,  bait  with  grasshoppers,  shove  your 
raft  out  from  the  shore,  and  when  they  take, 
just  let  'em  take,  and  sit  down  on  your  raft, 
and  you  are  in  for  a  run  around  that  lake." 

Looking  in  the  direction  from  whence  the 
voice  proceeded,  I  observed  for  the  first  time 

51 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


a  tall,  lank,  but  powerfully  built  man,  standing 
with  his  back  toward  me.  I  threw  some  more 
wood  on  the  fire,  and  as  it  blazed  up,  and 
seemingly  in  acknowledgment  of  my  subdued 
laughter,  a  grizzled  face  was  turned  toward 
me,  and  its  owner  added,  "but,  of  course,  you 
don't  want  a  very  big  raft." 

This  was  my  first  acquaintance  with  Cherry, 
an  acquaintance  which  has  ripened  and  be- 
come closer  with  years,  and  on  which  I  have 
never  ceased  to  congratulate  myself.  What- 
ever I  may  know  of  woodcraft  and  hunting  is 
due  largely  to  his  tuition.  For  many  years 
we  have  roughed  it  and  smoothed  it  together ; 
found  game  and  found  none ;  and  day  in  and 
day  out  he  was  the  best  partner  it  has  ever 
been  my  good  fortune  to  meet.  He  possessed 
the  invaluable  faculty  of  always  being  around 
when  he  was  wanted,  and  was  ready  for  what- 
ever might  turn  up,  from  trout  fishing  to  In- 
dian fighting  ;  he  had  an  inexhaustible  fund  of 
good  humor ;  was  always  on  the  alert,  game 
to  the  core,  and  willing  to  endure  any  hard- 
ship. Cherry  was  a  born  sportsman,  and  a 
living  exposition  of  the  noblest  innate  rules  of 
the  art ;  but  he  had  his  foibles  and  weak- 
nesses, and  of  these  only  I  speak.     I  think  his 

52 


it  bacls 
-     sometl 


Cherry 

o-rcatcst  failing  was  the  careless  manner  m 
which  he  handled  the  truth,  often  with  ludi- 
crous results,  not  the  least  humorous  feature 
of  which  was  his  own  entire  oblivion  of  them. 
As  a  youngster,  I  imagine  Cherry's  educa- 
tion had  been  sadly  neglected,  and  one  of  his 
(jueer  conceits  was  to  hide  his  evident  defici- 
encies in  this  respect.  It  was  decidedly  a  case 
where  silence  was  golden,  but  he  much  pre- 
ferred fighting  in  the  open  to  ambuscading  in 
that  fashion,  and  was  never  known  to  confess 
his  ignorance  of  any  subject  under  the  sun. 
For  instance,  one  year  when  we  arrived  for 
our  annual  hunt,  we  were  met  at  the  railroad 
station  by  Cherry  and  the  other  guides  with 
a  pack  outfit,  and  journeyed  from  there  to  a 
small  frontier  town  where  our  supplies  were 
awaitin<T  us.  On  reachincf  our  destination,  we 
went  directly  to  the  post-office,  to  inquire  for 
any  mail  that  might  have  arrived,  and  Cherry 
accompanied  us.  The  postmaster  gave  us  our 
mail,  and  with  it  a  letter  which  he  had  had  for 
some  time,  the  address  on  which  was  not  clear, 
and  asked  us  if  we  could  make  it  out.  We 
were  unable  to  do  so,  and  were  about  to  hand 
it  back,  when  Cherry  said  perhaps  he  could  tell 
something  about  it.     As  he  could  neither  read 

53 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

nor  write — a  fact  well  known  to  all  of  us — we 
were  somewhat  surprised  at  his  request ;  but 
in  nowise  abashed  at  the  witticisms  which  it 
provoked,  Cherry  examined  the  letter  very  mi- 
nutely, scrutinizing  it  carefully  from  every  pos- 
sible point  of  view,  and  finally  handed  it  back 
to  the  postmaster  with  the  utmost  gravity,  re- 
marking that  "the  devil  himself  could  not 
read  it." 

When  we  reached  Cherry's  ranch  we  found 
that  his  partner  had  just  returned  from  a  trip 
to  the  nearest  railroad  station  above,  and  had 
brought  back  a  telegram  and  letter  for  Cherry. 
He  as  well  as  Cherry  was  unable  to  read,  and 
Cherry  brought  the  telegram  to  me,  asking 
that  I  should  read  it,  stating,  by  way  of 
apology,  that  he  "  could  read  books  and  let- 
ters, but  he  hadn't  got  along  quite  as  far  as 
telegrams  yet."  The  letter  was  typewritten, 
and  this  he  also  asked  me  to  read,  remarking 
that  he  could  read  "  what  had  been  writ  in  a 
good  common  school  hand,  but  that  letter  had 
been  writ  most  awful  poor." 

One  of  Cherry's  most  elaborate  essays  at 
fiction  was  what  would  be  known  on  the  stage 
as  "the  story  of  his  life." 

This  narrative  he  imparted  to  me  while  we 

54 


Cherry 

were  snowbound  in  camp  together  up  among 
the  foothills.  The  bear  signs  in  c.ir  section 
had  become  rather  poor,  and  a  snowstorm 
affording  us  a  more  favorable  opportunity,  we 
started  out  to  take  advantage  of  it.  But  the 
storm  proved  to  be  rather  more  than  we  had 
bargained  for,  and  after  two  days  of  travel, 
during  all  of  which  time  it  continued  to  snow, 
we  made  as  good  a  camp  as  possible,  and  in 
the  loneliness  and  solitude  that  prevailed  dur- 
ing that  time  Cherry  took  me  into  his  con- 
fidence. Many  of  his  stories  derived  too  much 
of  their  charm  from  Cherry's  picturesque  man- 
ner of  telling  to  be  successfully  recounted,  and 
others  were  imparted  only  under  the  pledge 
of  secrecy,  but  sufficient  may  be  here  set  down 
to  illustrate  his  varied  career  and  the  resources 
of  his  imagination. 

Cherry  was  about  sixty ;  long,  lank,  and  not 
exactly  what  might  be  called  a  handsome 
man ;  and  as  he  sat  by  the  camp  fire  and  re- 
lated this  veracious  narrative,  the  result  was 
impressive  as  well  as  ludicrous.  He  had  been 
born  in  Texas ;  was  a  bit  hazy  as  to  the  loca- 
tion, but,  as  he  put  it,  "by  crossing  the  Rio 
Grande  twice,  and  then  going  between  a  butte 
and  a  sand  hill,  he  could  strike  the  old  home- 

55 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


1  :l 


Stead  in  the  center  every  time."  But  whether 
he  followed  his  back  track  or  not,  he  said,  it 
would  be  easy  for  him  to  get  there  when  he 
struck  Texas ;  everybody  down  there  knew 
the  place.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  on  his 
father's  ranch  that  old  Noah  had  built  the 
Ark ;  it  was  famous  on  that  account,  and 
about  everybody  in  the  State  had  been  there 
at  one  time  or  another  to  look  at  the  place, 
and  secure  a  few  chips  as  souvenirs.  He  re- 
called the  days  of  his  youth,  when  evil  times 
came  not,  and  he  could  travel  eighty  or  ninety 
miles  a  day  easily,  always  on  the  run,  up  hill 
and  down  ;  how,  when  he  was  fourteen  years 
old,  he  had  left  his  father's  house  to  go  to 
work  on  a  cattle  ranch,  and  when,  after  six 
months,  word  came  to  him  that  his  father's 
fortune  had  been  lost  in  an  unlucky  specula- 
tion, he  had  returned,  and  emptied  out  of  his 
pockets  $80,000  in  gold,  which  had  tided  his 
father  over,  and  saved  the  family  from  degra- 
dation. He  also  told  me  that  his  name  was 
not  Cherry,  but  Ryan,  and  that  he  had  two 
brothers,  one  of  whom  had  become  known  to 
fame  as  Doc  Middleton,  the  notorious  road 
agent  and  confidence  man,  while  the  other 
had  acquired  a  scarcely  less  enviable  reputa- 

56 


M 


Cherry 

tion  under  the  pseudonym  of  Dick  Turpin. 
The  reason  why  he  had  himself  assumed  an 
alias  was  one  of  the  things  imparted  to  me  in 
confidence.  He  had  left  Texas  many  years 
ago  and  journeyed  to  Montana,  where  he  had 
started  a  ranch,  and  introduced  a  breed  of 
horses  which  he  said  had  since  become  known 
all  over  the  world  under  the  name  of  the 
"Suffolk  Punch."  Of  this  stock  he  had  some 
80,000  head,  besides  the  ordinary  breed  of 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  etc. 

As  fortune  smiled  upon  him,  he  had  "  done 
society  "  a  little,  as  he  expressed  it,  and,  wish- 
ing to  marry  and  settle  down,  had  paid  court 
to  the  fair  daughter  of  a  neighboring  cattle 
king.  While,  from  Cherry's  account,  the  at- 
tractions of  this  young  lady  were  not  such  as 
would  entitle  her  to  pre-eminence  among  her 
sisters  in  the  capitals  of  the  effete  East,  they 
seemed  to  have  secured  for  her  decided  pre- 
cedence in  her  own  circle  of  society,  and  suit- 
ors came  from  far  and  near.  While  Cherry 
was  far  too  delicate  to  go  into  details,  he  gave 
me  to  understand  that  his  attentions  were  not 
unfavorably  regarded  by  this  damsel,  and  that 
he  might  long  ago  have  been  settled  down  to 
a  happy  matrimonial  existence  with  the  object 

57 


■•'  'I 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


of  his  affections,  had  it  not  been  for  his  pros- 
pective father-in-law.  Why  the  stern  parent 
objected  was  not  quite  clear,  but  he  did  so, 
and  finally  his  animosity  attained  to  such  a 
pitch  that  Cherry  thought  it  safer  to  leave  the 
country,  as  the  old  gentleman  was  a  dead  shot 
and  afflicted  with  a  villainous  temper.  Being 
offered  the  alternative  of  migrating  or  of 
making  a  target  of  himself  if  he  remained,  he 
chose  the  former,  and  was  forced  to  depart  on 
such  short  notice  that  he  was  compelled  to 
leave  behind  him  his  80,000  Suffolk  Punches, 
his  ranch,  and  everything  else  of  value  he  pos- 
sessed. Up  to  the  time  of  this  conversation 
Cherry  had  not  succeeded  in  retrieving  his 
fortunes,  but  lived  in  the  daily  hope  of  doing 
so,  and,  indeed,  according  to  his  own  account. 
Dame  Fortune  had  so  often  and  so  unexpect- 
edly taken  a  hand  in  his  affairs  that  I  should 
not  be  surprised  at  anything  that  might  hap- 
pen. I  never  read  an  account  of  some  new 
western  Monte  Cristo  that  my  thoughts  do 
not  instinctively  turn  to  Cherry,  as  the  possible 
possessor  of  this  hastily  acquired  wealth.  He 
could  travel  the  whole  road  from  poverty  to 
wealth  and  back  again  in  less  time  than  any 
man  I  ever  heard  of. 

58 


Cherry 

The  storm  having  blown  over  in  a  couple  of 
days,  we  broke  camp  and  started  for  the  ranch, 
and  on  the  way  ran  across  the  tracks  of  an 
enormous  grizzly,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it, 
caught  up  with  him,  and,  having  a  fair  shot,  I 
killed  him  almost  where  he  stood.  As  we 
were  taking  off  his  hide.  Cherry  told  me 
about  the  last  one  he  had  killed,  and  as  the 
story  progressed,  I  began  to  feel  that  this  one 
was  only  a  cub  in  comparison.  According  to 
this  narrative,  while  he  and  his  companion 
had  been  trapping  on  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Gros  Ventre  two  years  before,  their  trap  had 
been  set  and  been  sprung,  but  the  bear  had 
somehow  managed  to  escape.  The  same  thing 
happened  a  second,  and  then  a  third  time. 
Exasperated  at  such  unbecoming  conduct  on 
the  part  of  the  bear,  Cherry  and  his  com- 
panion resolved  that  they  would  have  him  at 
any  cost,  and  they  set  a  spring  gun  by  the 
trap,  and  also  a  spear  with  a  dead  fall,  to  pierce 
the  wily  animal's  back.  The  next  morning 
they  found  that  the  trap  had  been  sprung,  the 
gun  had  gone  off,  and  the  spear  lay  buried  in 
the  ground,  but  the  bear  had  evidently  es- 
caped without  a  scratch.  This  was  too  much 
for  Cherry's   companion,  who   insisted  upon 

59 


Trail  and  C amp-Fire 

taking  up  the  death-dealing  apparatus  and  let- 
ting the  bear  go,  but  Cherry  pleaded  for  one 
more  trial,  and  the  next  morning  was  at  the 
trap  as  the  sun  rose  over  the  hills,  to  see  what 
had  been  the  result  of  this  last  experiment. 
He  found  everything  just  as  it  had  been  left 
the  day  before.  Apparently  the  bear  had 
either  risen  later  than  usual,  or  had  secured 
his  breakfast  elsewhere  at  less  personal  risk  to 
himself.  So  Cherry,  after  examining  his  rifle, 
made  himself  as  comfortable  as  possible  be- 
hind some  bushes,  and  waited.  Morning 
passed  and  noon  came,  and  still  no  bear ;  but 
shortly  after  the  sun  passed  the  meridian, 
there  was  a  crashing  among  the  underbrush, 
and  there  came  into  sight  what  I  judge,  from 
Cherry's  account,  must  have  been  not  a  grizzly 
bear,  but  one  of  those  antediluvian  monsters 
known  as  a  cave  bear,  which  were  the  terror 
of  our  preh'^^toric  ancestors.  Cherry  was  an 
old  campaigi.v.  n  bear  hunting, and  not  easily 
dismayed,  but  the  sight  of  this  tremendous 
brute  as  he  came  leaping  toward  him,  clearing 
the  intervening  logs  at  a  single  bound,  and 
making  the  earth  tremble  at  each  succeeding 
jump,  was  so  startling  as  to  make  him  turn 

"  goose-flesh  "  all  over,  so  that,  as  he  expressed 

60 


Cherry 

it,  "you  could  have  struck  a  match"  on  any 
part  of  him.  Realizing  that  discretion  was  the 
better  part  of  valor,  Cherry,  like  Brer  Rabbit, 
"  laid  low,"  and  with  bulging  eyes  watched  the 
bear  as  he  finally  landed  with  one  hind  foot 
square  in  the  number  six  trap.  This  would 
have  doomed  an  ordinary  bear,  but  not  so  this 
one,  and  with  the  most  intense  astonishment 
Cherry  watched  him  with  the  greatest  deliber- 
ation press  down  the  springs  with  his  front 
feet,  and  then  open  the  trap  with  his  disen- 
gaged hind  foot,  and  step  out,  apparently  little 
the  worse  for  his  experience. 

Up  to  this  time  Cherry  had  been  so  much 
interested  in  the  bear's  operations  that  he  had 
forgotten  all  about  his  rifle,  and  it  was  not 
until  bruin  had  dodged  the  spear  and  started 
to  make  off  with  his  booty  that  he  remem- 
bered it.  He  got  in  two  shots  on  the  bear 
then,  but  seemingly  with  no  other  effect  than 
to  put  him  into  an  extreme  state  of  irritation, 
and  in  this  disagreeable  mood  he  started  for 
Cherry  on  the  run.  The  situation  was  cer- 
tainly precarious.  Cherry  tried  another  shot, 
but,  as  ill-luck  would  have  it,  the  cartridge 
missed  fire  and  the  ejector  refused  to  work. 
In  the  next  second  or  two  Cherry  thought  of 

6i 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

all  those  things  in  this  world  that  he  should 
have  done,  but  had  left  undone,  and  of  all 
those  other  things  which  he  should  not  have 
done,  but  had  done ;  but  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation  was  still  strong  within  him, 
and  an  open  tree-trunk  presenting  itself  at 
this  opportune  moment,  he  made  a  dive  for 
it.  It  had  been  felled  to  the  ground  in  some 
terrific  battle  of  the  elements  years  before,  and 
Cherry  got  into  it  just  in  time  to  feel  the 
bear's  claws  tickle  the  soles  of  his  boots,  as  he 
jammed  himself  into  its  farther  extremity.  Do 
the  best  he  could,  this  was  as  far  as  the  bear 
could  reach.  He  was  baffled  for  a  moment 
only,  however,  and  then  Cherry  felt  his  im- 
promptu habitation  suddenly  elevated  into  the 
air  and  borne  along  at  a  rapid  rate.  Working 
himself  down  to  the  opening  again,  he  found 
that  the  bear  had  picked  the  log  up  on  his 
shoulders  and  was  making  for  a  large  beaver 
pond  about  three  hundred  yards  distant,  from 
the  steep  bank  of  which  he  dropped  it  into  the 
water,  and  then  sat  down  to  lick  his  wounds 
and  await  developments.  Foreseeing  what 
was  coming,  Cherry  had  taken  such  precau- 
tions as  he  could  to  keep  his  rifle  dry,  and  as 
the  log  floated  high  enough  out  of  water  to 

63 


Cherry 

enable  him  to  breathe  after  the  first  ducking, 
he  set  to  work  to  remove  the  obstructing  car- 
trl(l<;e ;  but  it  was  slow  work,  and  he  labored 
under  great  disadvantages.  Meantime  the 
bear  grew  impatient,  and  evidently  decided  to 
force  the  fighting,  for  he  walked  out  on  the 
dam  and  tore  a  large  section  out  of  it.  The 
pond  drained  rapidly,  and,  to  his  horror, 
Cherry  soon  felt  the  impetus  of  the  current 
drawing  him  with  ever  increasing  rapidity  into 
the  clutches  of  the  bear,  who  was  at  the  open- 
ing, balancing  himself  on  three  legs  prepara- 
tory to  reaching  for  his  victim  with  the  fourth. 
When  Cherry  reached  this  point  in  his  narra- 
tive I  took  a  good  look  at  him,  to  see  if  he 
was  really  present  in  the  flesh,  so  completely 
did  he  seem  to  have  closed  every  avenue  of 
escape.  But  it  seems  a  new  cartridge  did  go 
home  finally,  and  as  he  made  the  last  cut  with 
his  skinning  knife,  he  told  me  that  that  hide 
brought  him  $60  green. 

Apparently  no  adventure  ever  happened  to 
Cherry  that  did  not  remind  him  of  some  paral- 
lel instance  in  which  he  had  figured,  usually  of 
a  much  more  dangerous  and  exciting  charac- 
ter.    One  year,  while  we  were  hunting  in  an 

extremely  rough  and  broken  country,  we  came 

63 


Trail  and  C amp-Fire 

across  a  good-sized  bear,  and  finally,  after  a 
hot  chase,  brought  him  to  bay  on  a  narrow 
trail  running  around  a  huge  cliff,  where  we 
killed  him.  His  death  struggles  sent  him 
over  the  cliff  and  to  the  rocks  below.  All 
of  these  circumstances  brought  vividly  to 
Cherry's  mind  an  adventure  which  happened 
to  him  some  years  before,  while  hunting  bear 
in  the  Sierre  Madre  Mountains.  The  country 
was  rough  and  almost  impassable  on  horse- 
back, and  finally  he  came  to  such  a  place  that 
he  was  compelled  to  dismount  and  seek  a  way 
out  on  foot.  He  found  a  narrow  trail  with  a 
high  bluff  above  him  and  a  precipice  below, 
and  had  reconnoitered  this  for  some  distance 
when  he  saw,  rounding  the  turn  ahead  of  him, 
a  huge  California  grizzly.  He  had  left  his  rifle 
behind  him,  so  hastened  to  make  a  retreat  in 
good  order,  but  on  turning  the  curve  behind 
him,  he  beheld  to  his  horror  another  grizzly 
coming  in  the  opposite  direction.  For  thou- 
sands of  feet,  so  it  seemed  to  Cherry,  the  clifif 
rose  above  him  almost  perpendicularly,  and 
the  descent  into  the  cafion  below  was  just  as 
steep.  Most  men  in  a  similar  predicament 
would  have  ceased  to  think  of  the  affairs  of 

this  earth  and  concentrated  their  attention  on 

64 


approa 
showed 
likewisi 
noses  t 
louder 
Cherry 
bear  pj 
then,  w 
I  each  we 
I  a  look  1 
I  fromvi< 
J  putting 
j  ening  h 
I  of  the  t 
^  as  close 


I 


Cherry 

the  next  world ;  but  not  so  the  resourceful 
Cherry.  Short  as  was  the  time  for  delibera- 
tion, his  fertile  instinct  was  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion. With  the  rapidity  oi  a  lightning-change 
artist,  he  proceeded  to  divest  himself  of  his 
clothing,  which  he  tossed  over  the  cliff,  and 
then,  throwing  himself  on  all  fours,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  meet  the  advancing  grizzly.  In 
those  days,  as  he  explained,  he  was  a  most 
po^vcrful  man,  and  covered  with  a  superabund- 
ance of  hair.  This  latter  acted  as  his  disguise, 
and,  putting  on  a  bold  front,  he  awaited  the 
approaching  grizzly,  which  growled  and 
showed  his  teeth  as  he  came  up.  Cherry  did 
likewise.  They  drew  closer,  and  putting  their 
noses  together,  both  bristled  up  and  growled 
louder  and  fiercer.  The  bear  sniffed  at 
Cherry,  who  returned  the  compliment.  The 
bear  pawed  the  earth.  So  did  Cherry ;  and 
then,  with  bristles  erect  and  a  parting  growl, 
each  went  his  way,  with  an  occasional  snarl  and 
a  look  backward,  until  the  next  turn  hid  them 
from  view.  As  Cherry  was  whittling  a  stick  and 
putting  some  sand  on  it,  preparatory  to  sharp- 
ening his  skinning  knife  for  removing  the  hide 
of  the  bear,  he  remarked  that  that  was  about 
as  close  a  call  as  he  had  ever  had,  but,  as  he 

65 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


stated  with  an  air  of  apology,  he  knew  it  was 
all  right,  "because  it  was  November,  and 
March  is  the  only  month  that  counts  for  me. 
I  always  notice  that  if  I  manage  to  get  through 
March  I  always  live  the  rest  of  the  year." 

While  not  an  admirer  of  Indian  character  in 
general,  Cherry  paid  the  "  sincerest  form  of 
flattery"  to  one  of  them  in  the  person  of 
lago,  and  at  one  time  this  trait  of  his  came 
near  getting  all  of  us  into  trouble.  The  last 
year  we  were  together,  the  Indians,  always 
more  or  less  dangerous,  were  especially  treach- 
erous. They  would  get  together  in  small 
raiding  parties,  and  swoop  down  on  defense- 
less cattlemen,  disappearing  as  quickly  as  they 
came,  and  leaving  a  trail  of  murder  and  deso- 
lation wherever  they  went,  until  finally  the 
Government  had  to  send  several  troops  of  in- 
fantry and  cavalry  to  protect  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  settlers.  One  day  our  party 
surprised  one  of  these  murderous  bands  and 
made  them  all  prisoners,  and  were  marching 
them  to  the  nearest  army  post,  when,  at  a  given 
signal,  they  made  a  break  for  liberty.  Most  of 
them  escaped ;  a  few  did  not.  Some  time 
afterward  the  State  authorities  sent  an  agent 
to  inquire  into  this  part  of  the  "  massacre,"  as 

66 


f 

■a 

4 


Cherry 


•■?t 


as 


the  "  new  journalism "  styled  it  in  flaming 
headlines.  Knowing  he  had  been  in  our  part 
of  the  country,  we  instructed  Cherry  to  be 
most  discreet,  and  not  to  boast,  as  was  his 
wont,  over  the  Indians  he  had  accounted  for. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  not  accounted  for 
any  of  them. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  a  stranger 
rode  up  to  the  ranch,  and,  following  the  hos- 
pitable custom  of  the  country.  Cherry  hailed 
him  and  invited  him  in.  Some  twelve  or  fif- 
teen of  us  were  sitting  outside  the  door  at  the 
time,  most  of  us  young  fellows,  and  the  agent, 
as  he  turned  out  to  be,  nodded  in  our  direc- 
tion, and  asked  Cherry  if  those  were  all  his. 
Cherry  took  a  look  at  the  throng  gathered  in 
front  of  the  house,  and  then  turning  on  the 
agent,  asked  him,  in  a  tone  of  undisguised  con- 
tempt, "  if  he  took  him  for  an  incubator  ?  "  He 
soon  got  on  the  good  side  of  Cherry,  though, 
by  telling  him  that  he  had  heard  what  a  good 
shot  he  was,  but  during  the  dinner  that  fol- 
lowed, adroitly  remarked  that  he  supposed  that 
the  Indians  whom  Cherry  had  had  in  charge 
had  escaped.  Up  to  this  time  Cherry,  who 
had  all  the  time  been  eager  to  give  a  full  ac- 
count of  the  entire  transaction,  had  managed 

67 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


to  restrain  himself,  but  this  slur  on  his  ability 
as  a  marksman  was  too  much,  and,  in  spite  of 
all  our  winks  and  nudges,  he  came  out  with  an 
emphatic,  "No,  sir;    not  much,  they  didn't; 

not  by  a  d d  sight."     Anything  could  be 

questioned  but  the  accuracy  of  his  faithful 
rifle.  I  do  not  know  what  the  agent  reported, 
but  am  certain  he  could  have  had  the  entire 
band  of  Indians  satisfactorily  accounted  for  if 
he  had  remained  long  enough  in  Cherry's 
society.  We  took  care,  however,  that  he  did 
not. 

It  was  the  year  that  young  Robert  Ray 
Hamilton  was  lost  that  Cherry's  pride  receiv 
ed  its  quickest  fall.  The  horse  that  Hamilton 
had  ridden  was  found  on  the  bank  of  the 
river  not  far  from  our  camp,  with  the  saddle 
overturned,  an  antelope  strapped  on  behind 
the  cantel,  and  some  river  grass  clinging  to 
the  stirrups.  In  the  hope  of  finding  his  body, 
we  built  a  log  canoe  for  the  purpose  of  search- 
ing the  river.  Men  accustomed  to  handling  a 
boat  were  requested  to  step  out  from  the  mot- 
ley crowd  gathered  on  the  bank,  and  among 
the  first  of  the  volunteers  came  Cherry,  with 
the  remark  that,  "  he  was  born  and  bred  in  a 
boat."     We  shoved  out  from  the  shore,  and 

68 


'm 


Cherry 

began  poling  alonj^  the  shallow  stream.  All 
went  well  until  we  struck  a  deep  and  stagnant 
pool,  when  Cherry  suddenly  dropped  his  pole, , 
and,  peering  over  the  side,  gasped  out :  "  Boys, 
we  have  got  to  turn  back  ;  I  can't  see  no  bot- 
tom here."  Nor  could  he  be  induced  to  get 
into  an  upright  position  again  and  go  to  work 
until  the  bottom  was  once  more  in  plain  sight. 

One  of  my  most  amusing  experiences  with 
Cherry  happened  that  same  year.  Reports  of 
remarkably  good  shooting  had  come  to  us 
from  the  other  side  of  the  range,  and,  hoping 
to  participate  in  it,  we  decided  to  cross,  al- 
though it  involved  a  trip  of  some  300  miles  in 
the  dead  of  winter.  We  had  almost  succeeded 
in  reaching  the  foothills,  when  a  blizzard  from 
the  north  struck  us  with  such  severity  that  for 
four  days  it  drove  us  before  it  southward. 
The  country  back  of  us  was  in  such  condition, 
and  the  cold  so  intense,  that  we  then  decided 
to  strike  out  for  a  town  about  ninety  miles 
distant,  to  rest  up  and  supply  our  larder  before 
again  venturing  into  the  mountains. 

After  two  days  of  forced  traveling  we 
reached  the  town,  and  gave  an  eager  welcome 
to  the  first  place  of  entertainment  we  could 
find,  leaving  our  horses  outside.     The  latter 

f9 


» 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

did  not  relish  this  arrangement,  and  soon  be- 
came restless,  so  that  Cherry  finally  decided 
to  take  them  to  the  outskirts  of  town,  and 
make  camp,  where  we  were  to  follow  him 
later.  We  were  just  beginning  to  luxuriate  in 
the  comfort  and  warmth  of  the  hotel,  when  we 
were  startled  by  a  series  of  piercing  yells  and 
curses  almost  outside  the  door,  and,  recogniz- 
ing Cherry's  voice,  we  rushed  out,  vaulted 
into  our  saddles,  and  drove  our  horses  pell- 
mell  around  the  corner.  The  sight  that  met 
our  eyes  was  sufficiently  exciting  to  cause  all 
of  us  to  hurry  to  the  rescue.  Our  pack  horses 
were  bucking  about  in  every  direction ;  some 
running  away ;  some  tangled  up  in  the  wire 
fences,  and  in  danger  of  serious  injury ;  and 
some  on  the  ground,  thrown  by  their  loosened 
lash  ropes.  Cherry  was  afoot,  the  bridle  of 
his  horse  in  one  hand  and  his  six-shooter  in 
the  other.  The  cause  of  all  this  commotion 
was  a  trolley  car,  which  had  suddenly  burst 
around  the  corner  with  the  usual  clanging  of 
the  bell  and  pyrotechnic  emission  of  sparks. 
When  we  arrived  on  the  scene,  Cherry  had 
the  motorman  covered  with  his  revolver,  and 
was  bawling  to  him  at  the  top  of  his  voice  to 
"take  his  wagon  into  another  street."     This 

70 


I 


Cherry 

order  not  being  obeyed  with  sufficient  alac- 
rity, he  fired  a  couple  of  shots  across  his  bows 
as  a  gentle  warning,  which  confirmed  the 
motorman  and  his  fares  in  the  impression  that 
a  hold-up  was  in  progress,  and  the  last  we  saw 
of  them  they  were  scuttling  across  lots  to  a 
place  of  safety.  We  hastily  got  our  outfit 
together,  and  started  at  once  in  the  direction 
of  the  old  ranch,  concluding  that,  after  all, 
there  was  no  place  like  home.  Cherry  lis- 
tened patiently  to  our  remonstrances  as  we 
rode  away,  but  was  evidently  not  placated, 
and  declared  defiantly,  as  the  town  disap- 
peared behind  the  hills,  that  "  No  Christian 
soldiers,  with  their  church-bells  ringing,  could 
travel  up  the  same  caflon  with  his  pack 
horses.     Not  if  he  saw  'em  first." 

It  must  not  for  a  moment  be  assumed  from 
these  stories  that  Cherry  was  at  all  deficient 
in  courage,  and  nerve,  and  daring.  Far  from 
it.  And  while  he  was  not  what  is  known  as 
a  "  bad  man,"  and  had  no  private  graveyard, 
yet  many  a  western  bully  has  found  to  his 
cost  that,  underlying  that  childlike  and  amia- 
ble simplicity  of  character,  there  was  a  stratum 
as  hard  as  flint,  and  which  struck  fire  as 
readily  when  dealt  a  blow.     Unless  the  tradi- 

71 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

tions  of  the  frontier  are  at  variance  with  the 
facts,  there  are  several  people  registered  in 
the  next  world  on  Cherry's  introduction.     Ac- 
cording to  one  of  these  stories,  Cherry  and  a 
number  of  trappers  and  cattlemen  were  gath- 
ered at  a  ranch  one  winter  evening  exchang- 
ing yarns,  as  was  their  wont,  and  everything 
was  peaceful  and  amicable  enough  until  the 
advent  of  a  tough  citizen  from  the  foothills, 
who  came  in  just  as  Cherry  was  relating  some 
of   his   experiences,   to  which   the  newcomer 
took  most  decided  objections.     Cherry  stood 
his  abuse  and  ridicule  as  long  as  possible,  and, 
finally,  when  it  became  unbearable,  resolved, 
rather  than  have  trouble,  to  leave,  and  was  in 
the  act  of  mounting  his  horse  when  this  bully, 
who  was  of  enormous  size  and  strength,  dealt 
him  a  terrific  blow  on  the  head,  which  nearly 
rendered  him  insensible.     He  then  followed  : 
up  this  cowardly  advantage  with  several  more  ' 
of  the   same   kind,   after  which   he   dragged 
Cherry  back  to  the  house  and  threw  him  on 
the  floor,  as  an  example  of  what  others  might 
expect  who  incurred  his  displeasure.     He  had 
made  a  very  grave  mistake,  however,  in  giv- 
ing Cherry  this  brief  breathing  spell,  for  it 
enabled  him  to  pull  himself  together  and  col- 

72 


Cherry 

lect  his  faculties.  One  of  his  eyes  had  been 
rendered  useless  by  a  blow  it  had  received, 
and  the  other  was  nearly  blinded  by  the  blood 
which  flowed  from  a  cut  on  his  forehead ;  but 
as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  distinguish  his  an- 
tagonist he  made  for  him  with  a  rush.  See- 
ing him  coming,  the  bully  drew  his  revolver, 
but  before  he  could  pull  the  trigger  Cherry 
was  upon  him,  and  before  the  others  could  in- 
terfere, had  they  been  so  disposed,  had  killed 
him  with  his  own  weapon. 

I  happened  to  be  present  at  a  little  tragedy 
in  which  Cherry  took  part,  which  caused  the 
death  of  a  famous  horsethief  and  his  partner, 
and  which  well  illustrated  Cherry's  coolness 
and  nerve.  He  had  known  years  before  in 
Montana  a  man  by  the  name  of  Murphy,  who 
at  that  time  was  acting  as  foreman  for  a  large 
cattle  company,  and  afterward  got  mixed  up 
in  some  one  of  the  numerous  border  frays 
which  were  continually  arising,  and  the  other 
side  getting  the  upper  hand,  he  was  forced  to 
leave.  While  en  route  south  he  fell  in  with  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Spalding,  who  had  some 
two  hundred  head  of  horses  with  him,  which, 
he  assured  Murphy,  were  all  "good"  stock, 
and  offered  to  give  him  an  interest  in  them  if 

73 


Trail  and  Camp- Fire 

he  would  help  to  get  them  to  market,  and  this 
proposition  Murphy  accepted.  Shortly  after 
this  they  fell  in  with  Cherry,  who  was  return- 
ing from  a  hunting  trip,  and  Spalding  made 
the  same  proposition  to  him,  which  was  also 
accepted.  The  very  next  night  a  band  of 
horse  thieves,  or  sheriff's  deputies — they  never 
knew  which — stampeded  their  outfit,  and  made 
off  south.  They  succeeded  in  recovering  the 
greater  part  of  the  stock  ;  but,  fearing  further 
depredations,  and  being  near  Cherry's  ranch, 
decided  to  winter  the  stock  there. 

During  the  winter  a  trapper  from  the  north, 
who  stopped  over  at  the  ranch  for  the  night, 
told  Cherry  that  the  horses  had  been  stolen, 
and  that  Spalding  was  the  man  who  had  done 
it.  Cherry  questioned  Spalding  on  the  sub- 
ject, and,  much  to  his  and  Murphy's  surprise, 
learned  that  the  charge  was  true.  Cherry  was 
for  washing  his  hands  of  the  whole  outfit,  but 
Murphy  decided  to  see  it  out,  and,  chiefly  on 
his  account,  our  old  guide  concluded  not  to 
interfere,  but  to  allow  'the  stock  to  winter  on 
the  ranch  and  let  matters  take  their  course. 
The  winter  was  almost  gone  before  anything 
further  was  heard  of  the  stock ;  but  the  latter 
part  of  March  word  came  to  Cherry  that  a 

74 


I 


Cherry 

strong  Montana  posse  was  headed  for  the 
ranch.  Even  then  he  and  Murphy  took  no 
measures  to  disassociate  themselves  from  their 
suspicious  company,  but  decided  to  stick  to- 
gether, and  take  chances.  Our  party  was 
camped  on  the  river,  about  two  miles  below 
the  ranch,  and  one  morning  in  April  we  heard 
the  posse  go  by  on  the  gravel  bank  below, 
and  by  the  time  our  horses  were  caught  and 
saddled,  we  heard  the  shooting  in  the  dis- 
tance. We  found  out  afterward  that  Spald- 
ing had  gone  to  the  cow  barn  about  the  time 
the  posse  arrived,  and  the  leader  met  him  at 
the  door  as  he  came  out.  He  was  at  once 
covered  with  revolvers  and  ordered  to  sur- 
render, but,  instead,  he  jumped  back  into  the 
barn,  and  opened  fire  with  both  his  guns. 
The  odds  against  him,  however,  were  too 
heavy,  and  he  was  shot  down  where  he  stood, 
but  not  until  more  than  one  poor  fellow  had 
been  sent  to  his  long  account.  Spalding  was 
riddled  with  buckshot,  and  a  fusilade  of  Win- 
chesters was  kept  up  long  after  he  was  dead, 
so  that  we  had  to  bury  him  in  a  blanket. 

Murphy,  hearing  the  shooting,  grasped  his 
rifle  and  started  for  the  barn,  but  just  as  he 
opened  the  door  of   the  ranch,  a  bullet  im- 

75 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

bedded  itself  in  the  wood  near  his  head,  and 
sent  the  splinters  flying  into  his  eyes.  Dazed 
and  blinded  for  the  moment  he  put  his  hand 
to  his  eyes,  and  half  stepped,  half  fell  back 
into  the  doorway,  and  the  man  who  had  fired 
the  shot,  thinking  he  had  killed  him,  raised 
himself  from  behind  the  mound  where  he  was 
hidden.  Quick  as  a  flash,  Murphy  killed  him 
with  his  gun  at  his  left  shoulder,  and  almost 
in  the  same  instant  shot  through  the  heart  an- 
other of  the  deputies,  who  incautiously  showed 
himself  in  another  direction.  Then  he  stepped 
into  the  open,  and  called  out  that  he  would 
fight  them  one  at  a  time,  or  surrender,  but, 
even  while  he  spoke,  a  bullet  struck  him  in 
the  back.  He  turned  to  face  this  new  foe, 
but  was  struck  again  and  again  until  he  reeled 
and  fell,  but  even  then,  though  shot  through 
in  a  dozen  different  places,  he  continued  to 
use  his  rifle,  and  when  they  got  to  him  the 
magazine  was  empty.  The  posse  had  sur- 
rounded the  ranch  when  we  rode  up,  and 
commanded  the  occupants  to  step  forth. 
Cherry  was  the  only  one.  As  he  came  out  of 
the  door  he  was  ordered  to  throw  up  his 
hands,  while  forty  deputies  covered  him.     He 

had  his  hands  in  his  pockets ;  started  to  obey 

76 


.^ 


Cherry 

the  order ;  drew  them  half  way  out ;  hesi- 
tated ;  shoved  them  back,  and  finally  crossed 
his  arms  on  his  chest.  The  order  was  re- 
peated, but  Cherry,  looking  about  him,  first  at 
the  posse  confronting  him  with  levelled  rifles 
still  smoking  from  their  recent  execution,  and 
then  from  the  body  of  Spalding  to  the  body 
of  his  friend  Murphy,  both  riddled  with  bul- 
lets, he  deliberately  put  his  hands  back  in  his 
pockets,  and,  turning  to  the  Sheriff,  said: 
"These  hands  will  go  up  for  men,  not  for 
murderers." 
Cherry  will  be  sixty  his  next  birthday. 

Lewis  S,  Thompson. 


\ 


t; 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 


In  the  fall  of  1893,  Dr.  A.  Donaldson 
Smith,  now  the  well-known  African  explorer, 
and  I  found  ourselves  in  London,  with  but 
three  days  in  which  to  make  ready  for  the 
African  shooting  trip  we  had  planned  for  the 
following  winter.  Most  of  the  time  during 
these  three  days  was  spent  in  buying  big  rifles 
for  ourselves,  guns  for  arming  our  native  fol- 
lowers, tents,  provisions,  water-filters,  water- 
bottles,  and  large  metal  barrels  for  water 
transportation.  These  last  proved  very  use- 
ful in  crossing  the  waterless  plains.  By  hard 
work  and  rigid  economy  of  time  the  most 
necessary  things  were  procured,  and  on  Octo- 
ber 13  we  were  steaming  down  the  Thames  in 
the  P.  &  O.  boat  Oceana,  bound  for  Aden,  in 
company  with  an  Englishman,  H.  K.,  who  was 
to  make  the  expedition  with  us.  The  P.  &.  0. 
boats  carry  no  explosives,  and  so,  before 
reaching   England,  we  had   been  obliged  to 

order  cartridges  for  the  heavy  rifles  we  in- 

78 


to 
in- 


! 


I 


I 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

tended  purchasing  in  London  s^nt  to  our 
destination  along  with  the  other  ammunition  ; 
we  therefore  found  ourselves  in  the  curious 
position  of  being  obliged  to  buy  such  rifles  as 
would  fit  our  cartridges,  a  condition  of  things 
which  greatly  amused  the  gun-makers.  For- 
tunately we  found  the  rifles  we  needed,  and 
they  did  us  good  service. 

On  the  passage  out,  we  added  to  our  stock 
of  provisions  and  medical  supplies  at  Malta 
and  Port  Said.  On  arriving  at  Aden  we  found 
it  the  hot  and  forsaken  place  it  is  always  pic- 
tured ;  but,  labor  being  very  cheap,  we  easily 
cultivated  the  habit  of  sitting  on  the  pleasant 
stone  veranda  of  the  hotel,  while  n:;tives 
moved  back  and  forth  between  us  and  the 
different  shops. 

We  fell  in  here  with  an  Enlish  officer,  Cap- 
tain Svvayne,  who  gave  us  many  valuable 
hints  in  regard  to  what  we  should  carry  as 
food  for  ourselves,  and  men,  and  the  best 
method  of  packing  it  up  for  camel  transporta- 
tion. This  last  is  a  very  important  matter,  as 
the  boxes  or  bags  must  be  of  a  certain  size 
an  ]  weight  and  properly  distributed  on  the 
camel's  back  ;  otherwise,  you  are  sure  to  have 
a  camel  with  a  sore  back  in  a  short  time,  and 

79 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


in  this  condition  he  wastes  away  and  soon 
becomes  useless.  Our  own  provisions  were 
packed  in  boxes,  each  holding  sufficient  to  last 
two  weeks.  This  method  proved  very  effi- 
cient as  a  restraint  on  the  extravagance  of  our 
native  cooks,  as  they  were  told  under  no  con- 
ditions would  a  new  box  be  opened  until  the 
time  limit  of  the  last  had  expired.  The  pro- 
visions for  our  men,  consisting  mostly  of  rice, 
dates  and  ghee — clarified  butter  made  from 
camel's  milk — were  put  up  in  boxes,  sacks  and 
tins,  respectively,  and  were  easily  made  into 
suitable  camel  packs.  There  happened  to  be 
a  boat  in  the  harbor  just  arrived  from  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  with  a  large  cargo  of  fine  dates  on 
board,  from  which  we  supplied  ourselves 
abundantly. 

Finally  everything  was  stowed  away  on  a 
small  steamer,  and,  after  a  three  days'  trip,  we 
arrived,  in  very  rough  weather,  off  a  small  vil- 
lage on  the  African  coast.  The  sea  was  so 
high  that  at  first  it  seemed  impossible  to  land; 
but  during  the  course  of  the  day  all  our 
goods  were  taken  safely  in,  and  we,  ourselves, 
carried  ashore  on  the  shoulders  of  natives.  It 
was  an  anxious  time  for  us,  as  we  sat  on  the 

beach  watching  our  gun  and  cartridge  boxes 

80 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

while  they  were  being  brought  through  the 
surf,  as  the  loss  of  any  of  these  would  have 
been  irreparable.  Notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  the  coast  abounds  in  sharks,  the  natives 
give  no  thought  to  them.  They  are  admir- 
able swimmers,  and  the  water  about  the 
dhows  swarmed  with  black  heads,  all  eager  to 
earn  a  little  silver  by  carrying  things  ashore. 

On  landing  we  were  most  kindly  received 
by  the  English  resident,  the  only  permanent 
white  man  there ;  and,  after  a  few  days  of 
preparation,  he  sent  us  off  into  the  jungle, 
with  a  caravan  of  forty-five  camels,  as  many 
men,  and  six  to  eight  ponies.  We  carried 
with  us  in  our  metal  barrels  some  distilled 
water  brought  from  Aden,  as  the  water  on  the 
coast  had  a  bad  reputation ;  well-earned,  we 
thought,  when  we  had  pointed  out  to  us,  near 
the  resident's  dwelling,  a  small,  white  stone, 
upright  in  the  ground,  and  were  told  the 
former  resident  rested  beneath  it. 

Shortly  before  we  started  inland  an  acci. 
dent  happened  to  A.  D.  S.'s  camera,  which 
crippled  his  photographic  work  a  good  deal. 
While  taking  some  photographs  one  evening, 
he  noticed  that  the  film-roll  turned  very  hard, 
and  finally  something  broke  inside  the  camera. 

8i 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

We  hunted  up  a  dark  place  in  the  cellar  of 
the  resident's  house,  and,  opening  the  camera, 
found  the  film  torn  completely  across,  not 
having  been  turned  evenly  on  the  supply  roll. 
We  took  the  film  off,  and,  when  about  to  re- 
place it,  were  uncertain  whether  the  glazed  or 
dull  side  should  face  the  diaphragm.  All 
were  in  favor  of  the  glazed  side,  but  on  open- 
ing both  of  H.  K.'s  cameras,  we  found  the 
glazed  side  facing  front  in  one  and  the  dull 
side  in  the  other.  H.  K.  had  loaded  one  of 
the  cameras  himself,  but  had  forgotten  which 
one  it  was.  Then  both  men  suggested  that  I 
open  up  my  camera  to  settle  the  matter. 
This  I  positively  refused  to  do,  as  I  knew 
little  about  the  inside  of  the  machine,  and 
wished  to  run  no  risks.  The  film  was  finally 
replaced,  and  all  would  have  been  well  had 
the  back  of  the  camera  been  closed  tightly. 
Unfortunately,  a  little  crack  let  in  sufificient 
light  to  damage  many  of  the  photographs. 

Before  leaving  the  coast,  we  tried  the  shoot- 
ing and  kicking  qualities  of  our  large  rifles— 
eight-bores  and  '5773 — experiments  for  which 
we  had  previously  had  no  time.  The  eight- 
bores  were  very  accurate,  and,  considering  the 

10  drams  of  powder  and  2-ounce  ball,  shook 

82 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

us  up  comparatively  little.  The  .577  rifles, 
with  6  drams  of  powder  and  610  grains  of 
lead,  made  themselves  felt  rather  more,  prob- 
ably because  the  bullet  was  rather  heavy  for 
the  weight  of  the  gun.  The  last-named  rifles, 
however,  proved  very  strong  hitters.  All 
told,  we  had  about  twenty  guns,  which  made 
it  possible  for  us  to  go  into  the  best  shooting 
districts,  the  wandering  native  tribes,  which 
are  very  frequently  met  with,  rarely  giving 
trouble,  provided  you  have  a  good  number  of 
firearms.  To  be  sure,  we  were  told  of  an 
Italian  who  got  into  a  little  difficulty  with  the 
Sultan  of  one  of  the  interior  tribes,  and  ar- 
rived on  the  coast  covered  only  by  his  py- 
jamas, and  minus  all  his  outfit ;  but  we  soon 
acquired  confidence  in  our  men,  and  felt  un- 
easy only  when  all  three  white  men  were  away 
from  the  camp  at  the  same  time. 

The  people  on  whose  coast  we  had  landed 
are  a  combination  of  the  Arab  and  African 
Galla,  and  unite  the  intelligence  of  the  former 
to  the  hardy,  enduring  qualities  of  the  latter. 
Of  medium  height,  they  have,  for  the  most 
part,  well-shaped  heads,  without  the  retreating 
forehead  of  the  blacks,  prominent  cheek-bones 
and  strong  jaws.      They  are  usually  lightly 

83' 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

built,  and  with  the  muscles  of  the  arms  and 
legs  rather  small  and  flat ;  but  the  chests  are 
well  developed,  and  the  pectoral  and  back 
muscles  invariably  stand  out  finely.  The 
large,  flat  feet  of  the  African  are  not  infre- 
quently replaced  by  slender,  well-formed  feet, 
with  high  insteps.  As  Mohammedans,  they 
eat  the  meat  of  no  animals  which  have  not 
had  their  throats  cut,  and  been  properly  bled 
before  death.  This  is  not  always  convenient 
or  easy  to  do  with  wild  game,  and  especially 
with  elephants  and  rhinoceros.  In  fact,  only 
one  rhinoceros  was  eaten  on  the  trip,  which 
one  we  managed  to  bleed  properly  before  he 
died.  Unlike  the  Mohammedans  of  some 
countries,  they  do  not  adhere  to  the  rule  of 
eating  only  animals  with  cloven  hoofs. 

One  kind  of  antelope  only — the  gerenuk— 
our  men  refused  to  eat ;  for  what  reason  we 
were  unable  to  make  out,  unless  that  it  may 
be  they  held  these  animals  as  somewhat 
sacred,  because  they  made  praying  mats  from 
their  skins.  Birds  and  fishes  are  also  ex- 
cluded from  their  list  of  foods,  apparently  on 
no  religious  grounds,  but  "because  our  fa- 
thers did  not  eat  them."  The  fact  that  these 
natives  do  not  eat  fish  would  tend  to  substan- 

84 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

tiate  the  medical  theory  that  fish-eating  is  a 
predisposing  cause  of  leprosy.  All  along  this 
part  of  the  coast  no  leprosy  is  apparent, 
whereas  at  Lamu,  farther  south,  where  fish  is 
a  regular  article  of  food  with  the  natives, 
there  is  a  considerable  leper  population. 

The  men's  dress  consists  of  a  waist-cloth, 
and  sometimes  they  throw  another  cloth  over 
their  shoulders,  and  possibly  twist  a  third 
piece  around  their  heads  for  a  turban.  No 
matter  how  quickly  or  casually  this  is  done, 
their  dress,  like  that  of  all  Eastern  peoples, 
looks  as  if  it  were  made  on  them.  To  protect 
the  feet,  they  wear  a  thick,  flat,  leather  sandal, 
turned  up  in  front,  and  held  on  by  leathern 
thongs  twisted  around  one  or  two  toes. 
These  have  to  be  taken  off  when  stalking 
game,  as  they  are  very  noisy. 

The  women,  who  are  not  nearly  as  good- 
looking  as  the  men,  are  pretty  well  covered 
with  cotton  cloth,  and  often  wear  a  string  of 
beads  around  the  neck.  The  clothes  are  gen- 
erally stained  a  light  brown  color  by  using 
moist  clay — a  useful  idea  where  one  must 
wear  the  same  clothing  several  years.  They 
are  a  light-hearted,  childish  people,  yet  have  a 
great  deal  of  pride,  and  are  generally  brave 

85 


I 


i 


Trail  and  Camp- Fire 

to  foolhardiness.  Watching  them  carefully, 
one  is  led  to  believe  that  this  recklessness  of 
danger  is  due  more  to  pride  and  natural  cour- 
age than  to  a  religious  belief  in  fate.  This 
fearlessness  is  apt  to  bring  one  into  curious 
situations  at  times,  which  one  would  gladly 
avoid,  as  the  natives  always  expect  the 
"sahibs"  to  be  in  for  anything  that  turns  up. 
We  were  agreeably  surprised  at  the  extremely 
decent  way  in  which  the  women  were  treated 
by  the  men  ;  and,  what  is  more,  the  men  did 
their  share  of  labor. 

One  is  first  impressed  on  starting  into  the 
jungle  by  the  ability  of  his  followers.  With 
a  good  head-man,  everybody  from  the  head 
shikari,  or  hunter,  down  to  the  camel-men, 
knows  his  place  in  a  few  days,  and  rarely 
has  to  be  urged  to  do  his  share  of  the  work. 
The  rapidity  with  which  a  caravan  is  got 
under  way  is  simply  marvelous.  Often  we 
had  hardly  time,  after  being  awakened  in  the 
morning  by  the  crying  of  the  camels  which 
were  being  loaded,  to  put  on  our  clothes  and 
drink  our  coffee  before  the  whole  encamp- 
ment was  in  motion. 

The  supply  of  water  is  often  a  most  import- 
ant matter  in  Africa,  and  especially  so  where 

86 


I 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

we  were,  in  the  dry  season.  Every  move  was 
regulated  by  the  wells ;  and  one  realizes  how 
precious  water  really  is  when  he  sees  men 
almost  fighting  for  its  possession  at  a  water 
hole,  or,  as  in  one  place,  where  natives  built 
fires  to  keep  the  elephants  from  coming  down 
at  night  and  drinking  up  what  little  there  was„ 
At  one  of  the  wells  we  passed,  where  water 
\v;is  very  scarce,  we  found  a  few  men  and 
camels  belonging  to  an  Englishman,  who  was 
camped  far  away  in  a  dry  district.  The 
camels  were  hung  about  with  water-harns  or 
carriers,  and  the  small  detachment  had  been 
sent  down  to  fill  them  and  relieve  the  camp. 
The  natives  owning  the  wells  at  first  posi- 
tively refused  to  part  with  any  of  the  precious 
fluid.  My  head  man,  Adan,  here  showed  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  his  countrymen.  He 
talked  persuasively  and  joked  with  them,  while 
gently  stroking  the  gray  beard  of  the  oldest 
inhabitant,  and  in  half  an  hour  had  won  the 
prized  permission.  Our  metal  casks,  though 
rather  large  and  clumsy,  kept  the  water  sv/eet, 
and  were  much  more  serviceable  than  the 
ordinary  wooden  barrels,  which,  when  empty 
and  V,  ell  baked  in  the  sun,  are  apt  to  shrink 
and  go  to  pieces. 

87 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

In  the  rainy  season,  when  the  country  is 
green,  and  grazing  good  on  the  waterless 
plains,  the  natives  take  their  large  herds  of 
camels  perhaps  several  days  from  any  water 
holes,  and  allow  them  to  graze  for  a  week  or 
more  without  driving  them  to  where  they  can 
get  a  drink.  During  this  time,  the  natives 
and  their  horses  drink  camel's  milk  in  place  of 
water.  It  is  not  a  bad  substitute,  and,  after 
getting  used  to  the  slight  acid  flavor,  I  used 
to  drink  large  quantities  of  it — both  fresh  and 
sour.  It  will  not  do  for  tea  or  coffee,  however, 
as  it  curdles  them.  The  camels  are,  no  doubt, 
oftentimes  kept  from  water  longer  than  is 
good  for  them.  They  are  a  stupid  animal, 
and,  when  thirsty,  do  not  nose  round  like  a 
horse,  among  the  water  barrels,  to  make  their 
wants  known.  They  might  go  two  weeks 
without  giving  a  sign  of  thirst,  unless  when 
in  the  neighborhood  of  wells.  Although  two 
out  of  the  three  compartments  into  which  a 
camel's  stomach  is  divided  are  well  lined  with 
pouches  exclusively  for  water  supply,  and  can, 
by  action  of  muscles  in  the  stomach  wall,  be 
shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  cavity,  notwith- 
standing the  capacity  of  this  reservoir,  it  is 
probably  best  for  a  camel  to  have  a  drink 

88 


sty 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

every  few  days  when  possible.  The  falling 
off  in  the  animal's  general  condition,  and  espe- 
cially the  noticeable  decrease  in  the  size  of 
its  fatty  hump,  which  should  occupy  quarter 
the  length  of  the  back,  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  it  requires  more  water. 

Our  camels  would  eat  any  green  bush  or 
tree,  but  were  especially  fond  of  thorn  bushes. 
The  fact  that  the  thorns  were  two  or  three 
inches  long  seemed  rather  to  add  to  their  at- 
tractiveness. Camels  have  been  given  a  very 
bad  reputation  as  regards  temper  and  general 
disposition,  but,  so  far  as  our  limited  experi- 
ence went,  they  never  really  offered  to  bite, 
altliough  we  constantly  walked  among  them 
about  camp,  at  night,  when  they  were  lying 
down.  The  camel  mats,  put  on  to  protect  the 
animal  from  his  load,  and  used  by  the  native 
tribes  as  coverings  for  their  huts,  made  good 
blankets  for  our  men,  protecting  them  from 
the  cold  night  air  of  the  inland  plateau.  The 
camel  is  invaluable  to  the  natives,  and,  with 
their  flocks  of  sheep,  constitutes  almost  their 
whole  ^vealth.  They  are  not  only  useful  as  a 
transporting  machine,  but  many  are  raised  for 
their  meat,  the  hump  and  the  marrow  bones 

of  the  legs  being  the  choice  parts. 

89 


! 


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Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

Sheep  meat  is  also  highly  prized,  and  our 
men  preferred  it  to  any  antelope  we  shot.  A 
part  of  this  preference  vas  no  doubt  due  to 
the  fact  that  sheep  cos.,  us  something,  and 
they  always  expected  us  to  give  them  a  good 
feast  of  mutton  when  any  big  game  had  fallen 
during  the  day. 

The  camel  is  often  made  use  of  for  shikar 
work.  The  natives,  armed  as  they  are  only 
with  bows  and  spears,  cannot  approach  suf- 
ficiently near  the  antelope  to  make  sure  with 
these  weapons.  They,  therefore,  use  their  best 
friend,  the  camel,  and  by  walking  along  close 
to  the  animal's  shoulder,  gradually  edge  in 
near  enough  to  the  antelope  for  a  shot  with 
an  arrow  beneath  the  camel's  neck.  The  ante- 
lope, being  accustomed  to  see  camels  about, 
do  not  fear  them.  One  beautiful  head,  I  re- 
member well,  belonging  to  the  large  kudu 
type  of  antelope,  was  obtained  by  a  native 
who  employed  this  method  of  stalking. 

To  finish  up  with  the  native  livestock,  I 
must  mention  their  ponies.  These  are  hardy 
little  beggars,  with  lots  of  endurance.  My 
own  pet  pony,  which  was  a  very  good  repre- 
sentative of  the  type,  had  considerable  Arab 

blood  in  him.     Tough  and  very  sure-footed, 

90 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

he  liked  nothing  so  well  as  a  long  run  after  a 
wounded  antelope.  We  were  told  that  gray 
and  white  ponies  were  used  in  rhinoceros 
hunting.  The  rhinoceros  is  made  angry  by  a 
native  riding  a  white  pony  directly  by  his 
nose,  and  the  big  brute  follows  savagely,  the 
attention  of  his  small  eyes  being  held  by  the 
light-colored  spectre  dancing  ahead  of  him. 
The  friends  of  the  rider  run  on  either  side, 
and  fill  the  hide  of  the  rhinoceros  with  spears 
and  arrows.  Though  the  natives  have  to  pay 
little  attention  to  their  horses,  as  they  never 
require  shoeing  in  such  a  country,  they  are 
extremely  careless  about  the  most  important 
part  of  the  animal  in  the  tropics — the  back ; 
and,  when  selling  a  pony,  try  their  best  to  get 
their  money  before  unsaddling.  Usually,  the 
saddle  cloth  has  a  suspicious  red  look,  and, 
beneath  it,  if  there  is  no  open  sore,  there  are 
generally  several  old  scars  of  previous  break- 
ing downs.  Being  Mohammedans,  these  peo- 
ple will  have  nothing  to  do  with  dogs,  and 
one  never  sees  dogs  except  among  the  Mit- 
gans  or  bushmen,  who  are  of  a  lower  caste. 

The  quiet,  nomadic,  pastoral  life  led  by  the 
natives  often  grows  tiresome,  and  the  different 
tribes    are   constantly    raiding    one    another. 

91 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

This  seemed  to  be  done  more  for  relaxation 
than  for  any  other  reason,  and  we  regretted 
that  we  barely  missed  seeing  one  or  two  of 
these  fights. 

Once  well  started,  as  our  camels  were  in 
good  condition,  we  usually  managed  to  cover 
twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  a  day,  except  in 
mountainous  regions.  The  forty-five  camels, 
swinging  along  at  their  halting  gait  in  single 
file,  the  head-rope  of  one  fastened  to  the  tail 
of  the  preceding  camel,  reached  out  for  two 
hundred  yards  or  more,  and  the  men  scattered 
all  along  the  line  kept  up  such  a  noise  that 
we  were  obliged  to  range  well  out  on  either 
side  to  get  any  shooting.  My  daily  shooting 
outfit  consisted  of  two  shikaris  and  my  syce, 
who  looked  after  my  pony.  The  shikaris 
carried  the  Winchester  and  .577,  and  the  syce 
the  shotgun  and  camera.  This  combination 
put  us  in  readiness  for  anything  that  we 
might  run  into. 

The  first  piece  of  game  I  shot  was  a  big 

bustard — with   my  Winchester,  as  I  did  not 

dare  approach  nearer  than  seventy-five  yards. 

This  bird,  the  same  as  the  Arabian  bustard,  is 

of  a  general  brownish  color  with  a  mottling  of 

white.     He  walks  about  in  a  very  thorough- 

9a 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 


bred  manner,  flies  strong,  and  is  difficult  to 
approach  within  shotgun  distance.  We  also 
met  with  two  smaller  varieties  of  bustards, 
and  these,  together  with  wild  guinea  fowl  anr' 
doves,  often  supplied  us  with  meat  when  large 
game  was  scarce. 

It  was  not  many  days  before  we  fell  in  with 
various  kinds  of  antelope,  and  soon  had  speci- 
mens of  about  the  smallest  known  variety,  the 
native  dik-dik,  or  Salt's  gazelle.  These  little 
chaps,  standing  about  sixteen  inches  at  the 
shoulder,  delicately  and  perfectly  shaped,  are 
found  in  almost  all  districts  where  the  country 
is  gravelly  and  rolling.  They  jump  up  like 
hares  from  beneath  a  bush,  and  make  a  diffi- 
cult mark  when  i*unning  in  the  brush.  The 
horns  of  the  male  are  about  three  inches 
long,  and  are  often  partially  obscured  by  a 
brush  of  stiff  hair  which  grows  up  from 
the  forehead. 

My  first  piece  of  real  good  luck  was  in  get- 
ting an  oryx.  This  animal,  about  the  size  of 
a  mule,  is  certainly  the  most  gamy,  in  looks 
and  actions,  of  all  the  antelope  tribe  in  this 
region.  While  A.  D.  S.  and  I  were  stalking 
some  aoul  antelope,  H.  K.,  who  was  ahead, 
drove  two   oryx  within    one  hundred   yards, 

93 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


i 


giving  me  a  good  side  shot.  At  the  report  of 
the  Winchester,  they  ran  off  at  a  fast  pace, 
but  we  made  out  a  splash  of  color  on  the  light 
skin  behind  the  shoulder  of  the  animal  shot 
at,  and  my  next  shot  taking  her — for  it  was  a 
cow — in  the  buttock,  she  slowed  up,  and  a 
bullet  through  the  spine  settled  the  matter. 
The  horns  were  slender,  and  of  the  fair  length 
of  thirty-three  inches. 

One  day  the  men  discovered  a  bunch  of 
about  fifteen  aoul  antelope,  which  are  about 
the  size  of  a  large  goat,  and  have  beautiful 
lyre-shaped  horns.  These  were  off  on  one 
side,  and  my  shikari  and  I  stalked  them 
around  a  hill,  by  which  they  were  feeding. 
This  brought  us  within  a  hundred  and  ten 
paces,  and  gave  me  a  quiet  shot  at  the  leading 
buck.  The  ball  not  only  passed  through  his 
shoulders,  but,  on  running  up,  we  found,  lying 
dead  about  five  feet  beyond,  a  doe,  killed  by 
the  same  b^ll,  though  we  were  not  aware  that 
another  animal  was  so  near.  Still  another 
aoul,  offering  a  running  shot  at  fifty  yards, 
gave  me  a  chance  I  could  not  resist.  This  re- 
sulted in  a  broken  hip,  which  enabled  me  to 
get  her  after  a  short  run.  We  soon  gave  up 
trying  to  get  a  shot  at  aoul  from  a  concealed 

94 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 


»g 


position,  as  this  was  seldom  successful.  The 
best  plan  is  to  walk  quietly  toward  them  by 
a  series  of  gradually  approaching  zig-zags, 
when  they  do  not  seem  to  realize  your  real 
direction  before  you  are  within  shot. 

Some  live  bait  put  out  at  night  to  attract 
lions  or  leopards  was  pulled  down  by  hyenas, 
and  I  managed  to  get  one  of  the  brutes  with 
a  charge  of  buckshot.  It  belonged  to  the 
spotted  variety,  of  which  there  are  quantities 
throughout  the  country,  and  their  evening  call 
was  always  with  us  during  the  trip.  They,  of 
course,  offer  no  sport. 

We  had  already  reached  the  inland  plateau, 
which,  for  the  most  part,  rises  abruptly  from 
the  maritime  plain.  This  rough  and  ragged 
line  of  demarkation  gives  rise  to  some  fine 
mountain  scenery.  It  certainly  appealed  to 
us  very  pleasantly  when  we  were  coming  out, 
after  a  long  time  spent  on  the  great,  level 
interior  plain.  It  was  toward  the  end  of  an 
afternoon,  when  the  mountains  appeared  sud- 
denly and  distinctly  before  us  as  we  stood  on 
the  edge  of  the  plateau,  and  we  realized 
sharply  that  a  day  or  two  would  bring  us  to 
the  coast,  and  that  our  shooting  trip  would 
then  be  over. 

95 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

At  the  end  of  ten  days'  travel,  we  were 
about  3,000  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  were 
entering  the  country  of  the  Gadabursi  tribes, 
well  known  for  their  warlike  habits.  We, 
therefore,  made  a  free  display  of  our  guns, 
had  regular  sentries  posted  at  night,  and  sur- 
rounded the  encampment  with  a  thorn  fence, 
or  zareba,  which  was  useful  in  warning  off 
animals  as  well  as  men. 

We  had  already  seen  elephant  and  lion 
tracks,  and  as  our  men  showed  great  eager- 
ness in  trying  to  find  the  animals  themselves, 
we  had  not  much  doubt  but  that  we  should 
soon  become  acquainted  with  some  of  them. 
One  night  we  heard,  and  dimly  saw,  some 
elephants  near  a  water  hole;  but  it  was  too 
dark  for  shooting,  and  the  next  day  we  were 
unfortunate  in  not  finding  them.  A.  D.  S., 
however,  who  followed  up  some  fresh  tracks 
he  chanced  upon,  although  unsuccessful,  and 
obliged  to  halt  for  the  night  away  from  the 
main  camp,  had  the  monotony  relieved  by  a 
lion,  which  came  suddenly  up  to  the  little 
camp  on  his  way  to  a  water  hole.  He  imme- 
diately began  to  roar  with  magnificent  effect, 
and  stayed  in  the  neighborhood  a  good  part 

of  the  night,  which  explained  the  drowsiness 

96 


f 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

of  the  party  on  the  following  day.  It  was  im- 
possible to  get  a  shot  at  him. 

For  a  few  days  after  this  we  were  rather 
quiet.  My  men  and  I  came  on  some  very 
good  specimens  of  the  gerenuk  (Waller's  ga- 
zelle), the  most  curious  of  the  antelope  we 
met  with,  their  long,  thin  necks  and  sloping 
quarters  giving  them  much  the  appearance 
of  a  small  giraffe.  One  evening  I  got  a  good 
opportunity  at  some  wart  hogs  near  a  water 
hole,  and  wounded  one  in  the  leg,  which  we 
followed  up  next  day. 

Before  killing  him,  I  wished  to  get  a  photo- 
graph of  the  beast  in  life,  and  H.  K.  engaged 
his  attention  so  well,  while  I  came  up  with  the 
camera  on  the  opposite  side,  that  the  old  boar 
made  a  quick,  determined  charge,  and  H.  K. 
only  saved  his  legs  by  holding  the  pig  off  with 
the  muzzle  of  his  rifle.  We  had  to  shoot  him 
without  getting  a  good  photograph,  as  he  re- 
sented all  close  approaches  with  the  camera. 

We  first  became  acquainted  with  the  lion  in 
the  following  way.  A.  D.  S.  had  camped  sev- 
eral hours  in  advance  of  H.  K.  and  myself. 
That  night  he  lay  in  wait  behind  some  brush 
near  a  stream  of  water,  with  a  goat  tied  out 
as  bait.     He  had  fallen   asleep,  when  he  was 

97 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


awakened  by  a  tremendous  roar,  and  realized 
that  something  was  carrying  off  his  goat. 
Although  it  was  bright  moonlight,  the  animal 
raised  so  much  dust  that  he  could  make  out 
nothing,  and,  thinking  it  might  be  a  leopard, 
he  fired  at  it  with  a  charge  of  large  shot.  The 
animal  disappeared,  and  when  next  seen  was 
thirty  or  forty  yards  away,  and  undoubtedly  a 
lion,  with  a  companion.  A.  D.  S.  had  no  more 
good  shots  that  night,  but  caught  occasional 
glimpses  of  both  animals  on  a  bluff,  so  close 
behind  his  retreat  as  to  make  his  position  de- 
cidedly uncomfortable.  Early  next  morning 
word  was  sent  back  to  H.  K.  and  myself  to 
hurry  on  and  take  part  in  the  sport.  Our 
camps  were  not  yet  in  motion,  and  I  was  up 
on  the  hills  after  kudu.  Some  of  my  men 
came  running  and  shouting  after  me,  and, 
when  we  reached  the  level,  my  pony  was 
already  there  in  readiness,  and  the  caravan  on 
the  move. 

Our  men  were  greatly  excited,  and  hurried 
us  on  down  a  rocky  ravine  at  a  rapid  pace. 
They  ran  alongside,  carrying  the  heavy  rifles, 
and  keeping  pace  with  the  horses.  On  com- 
ing  up   to   the   place   where   A.    D.   S.   was 

encamped,  we  immediately  set  about  tracking 

98 


I 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

up  the  lions.  There  was  a  rather  respectable 
little  stream  of  water  running  through  the  val- 
ley, along  the  sides  of  which  grew  some  good- 
sized  trees,  and  the  ground  beneath  them  was 
well  covered  with  jungle  growth.  The  men 
went  carefully  to  work,  but  the  earth  soon 
proved  too  hard  for  tracking,  and  we  tried  a 
drive  of  the  most  likely  piece  of  jungle. 

This  proved  unsuccessful,  and,  waiting  for 
night,  we  all  three  sat  out  behind  live  bait,  in 
hopes  of  a  shot.  H.  K.  was  the  lucky  man. 
The  lions  came  up  to  his  position  about  mid- 
night, probably  attracted  by  the  far-reaching 
voice  of  his  bait ;  and  he  succeeded  in  killing 
one  outright,  and  in  wounding  the  other.  In 
the  morning  we  tracked  up  the  wounded  ani- 
mal, and  obtained  our  first  sight  of  a  wild  lion. 
H.  K.  secured  a  good  shot,  as  we  all  stood 
together,  about  fifty  feet  away  from  the  lion, 
which  was  in  plain  sight,  and  finished  him. 
Both  were  full-grown  male  animals,  but  with 
scanty  manes. 

Excepting  two  or  three  leopards,  nothing  of 
importance  was  added  to  our  bags  until  about 
a  week  later,  when  we  fell  in  with  elephants. 

A.  D.  S.  went  off  in  one  direction  to  follow 
up  an  elephant  rumor,  while  H.  K.  and  myself 

99 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

were  conducted  in  an  opposite  direction  by  an 
old  native,  who  said  he  would  guide  us  to  a 
pool  where  the  elephants  came  every  night. 
We  followed  old  Kimbaro,  the  guide,  to  the 
water,  and  that  very  night,  about  twelve 
o'clock,  were  awakened  by  our  men,  who  said 
the  elephants  had  come  for  their  nightly 
drink.  Although  it  was  too  dark  to  see  any- 
thing, we  distinctly  heard  the  big  beasts  about 
one  hundred  yards  away,  moving  about  in  the 
water,  and  making  low,  rumbling  noises. 

In  the  morning  we  took  up  the  track,  and, 
after  following  it  for  hours,  under  a  hot  sun, 
came  to  a  native  village,  by  which  the  ele- 
phants had  passed.  The  argyle,  or  chief  of 
the  village,  said  he  would  take  us  to  where  the 
elephants  would  probably  rest  during  the  day. 
He  kept  his  word,  and  inside  of  an  hour 
showed  us  a  herd  of  about  twenty.  The 
country  was  rolling,  rough,  and  stony,  which 
was  well  for  us,  but  unfortunately  it  was  very 
open.  This  made  a  very  close  approach — the 
most  important  element  in  elephant  shoot- 
ing— impossible. 

The  elephants  had  got  an  idea  into  their 
heads,  and  were  moving  slowly  along  in  a 
compact  body  as  we  approached  within  shoot- 


t< 


lOO 


I 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

inL,'  distance.  I  tried  several  shoulder  shots, 
and  very  soon  one  large  elephant,  wounded  in 
several  places,  stepped  out  from  the  herd  into 
the  open,  where  we  were,  looking  decidedly 
mad.  A  ball  from  my  eight-bore  broke  a 
foreleg  high  up,  and  down  he  went,  but  was 
up  again  immediately.  I  then  tried  a  head 
shot  with  the  .577  ;  the  hardened  bullet,  strik- 
ing just  in  front  of  the  ear,  passed  through 
the  brain,  and  the  big  fellow  went  down  for 
crood. 

Passing  by  him,  my  shikari  and  I  ran  up  on 
to  some  low  hills  in  pursuit  of  the  rest  of  the 
herd,  which  had  been  held  up  somewhat  by 
one  of  my  men,  who  circled  them  on  a  pony. 
Coming  up  with  them  in  quarter  of  a  mile,  I 
soon  had  two  down  without  mucli  trouble,  but 
the  third  one  took  a  lot  of  shooting,  and 
though  he  did  not  actually  charge,  seemed 
willing  to  do  so  any  time.  Finally,  the  .577 
again  found  the  fatal  spot  in  the  head,  just  as 
H.  K.,  who  had  been  looking  up  a  wounded 
animal,  arrived  on  the  scene. 

Having  no  more  cartridges,  I  stood  behind 
H.  K.  while  he  killed  two  more,  the  last, 
though  not  a  full-grown  animal,  charging 
viciously  up,  within  about  twenty  feet,  before 

lOI 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

he  was  finally  brought  down  by  a  forehead 
shot.  On  our  return  to  the  village  the  chief 
sang  a  song  of  victory,  and  there  was  much 
rejoicing. 

Two  days  were  consumed  in  cutting  out  the 
ivory,  and  removing  and  preserving  as  tro- 
phies the  skins  from  the  heads  and  legs  of 
several  animals.  While  taking  off  the  head 
skin  of  the  large  animal  first  shot,  we  found 
the  .577  bullet — one-nineteenth  part  tin — had 
passed  completely  through  the  skull,  and  re- 
mained partially  flattened  against  the  skin  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  head.  We  tried  the 
traditional  delicacy  of  elephant  foot,  roasted 
twenty-four  hours  in  the  ground,  after  the 
manner  of  the  late  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  from 
whom  H.  K.  had  received  personal  instruc- 
tion, and  found  a  little  of  it  acceptable,  but 
it  was  rather  a  formidable  dish,  when  a  foot 
measuring  four  feet  around  was  brought  on 
as  an  entrde  course. 

Two  nights  after  the  elephant  shooting,  we 
were  awakened  about  one  o'clock  by  the 
sentry,  who  said  something  was  making  away 
with  a  goat  that  had  been  tied  out  to  attract 
leopards.     We  could  distinctly  hear  the  brush 

crackling  close  to  the  zareba,  and  picking  up 

102 


! 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

our  rifles,  with  nothing  on  but  pyjamas  and 
sandals,  started  toward  the  noise,  as  it  was  too 
dark  to  see  more  than  a  few  feet  ahead. 

We  were  very  close,  when  I  was  caught  up 
on  some  thorns,  and,  fortunately,  as  it  proved, 
for  we  were  now  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
animal,  which,  though  invisible,  was  making 
far  too  much  commotion  for  a  leopard.  Acci- 
dentally looking  on  the  ground,  I  saw  by  the 
light  of  a  lantern,  carried  by  the  sentry, 
plenty  of  fresh  elephant  tracks,  and  we  will- 
ingly gave  up  the  pursuit.  Had  we  walked 
into  the  middle  of  the  herd,  instead  of  bring- 
ing up  the  rear,  it  might  not  have  been 
amusing. 

The  next  morning  natives  reported  a  herd 

of  elephants  about  one  hour  away.     Pretty 

well  satisfied  with  what  elephant  trophies  we 

had,  I  determined  to  get  some  photographs  of 

living  elephants.     We  managed  to  get  very 

close  to  the  herd,  but  the  thick  undergrowth 

prevented  a  satisfactory  use  of   the  camera, 

and  the  results  were  poor.     I  was  sure  they 

could  hear  the  click  of  the  ratchet  as  I  turned 

the  film  roll ;   and  soon,  catching  our  wind, 

the  herd  moved  off  to  an  open,  elevated  piece 

of  ground  near  at  hand. 

103 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

The  desire  for  more  shooting  now  over- 
came my  principles,  and  my  shikari,  who  was 
rather  disgusted  with  the  photographing  part 
of  the  morning's  work,  hurried  on  to  the  open 
plain,  where  the  elephants  stood  facing  us, 
having  halted  at  the  cries  of  some  of  my  men 
who  had  headed  them.  What  appeared  near 
enough  for  me,  did  not  satisfy  my  shikari  at 
all,  and  we  kept  on  toward  the  herd  until 
even  he  was  willing  to  stop,  and  I  knew  him 
well  enough  by  this  time  to  be  sure  that  a 
further  advance  was  out  of  place.  I  fired  at 
the  biggest  one  we  could  pick  out  of  the  herd 
of  twelve  or  more,  as  they  stood  head  on. 
Up  went  their  trunks  and  ears,  and  trumpet- 
ing, they  charged  us.  There  was  a  long 
stretch  to  cover  before  we  came  to  sloping 
ground,  and  no  bushes  or  trees ;  but,  separat- 
ing, to  distract  the  elephants,  we  managed  by 
hard  running,  made  tiresome  by  my  1 6-pound 
eight-bore,  to  reach  the  incline  before  they 
came  up  to  us.  As  they  lost  sight  of  us,  and 
could  not  get  our  wind,  the  elephants  stopped 
and  filed  off  rapidly  on  one  side.  This  en- 
abled me  to  place  another  bullet  behind  the 
shoulder  of  the  leader  of  the  procession — the 
same  big  elephant  I  had  just  shot  at,  and  who 

104 


li 


" 


^ 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

showed  the  mark  of  the  first  bullet  by  blood 
running  down  his  chest  in  front.  The  ani- 
mals now  entered  the  dense  thicket  where  we , 
first  found  them.  There  they  stood,  hot  and 
angry,  and  reaching  their  trunks  down  into 
their  stomachs,  drew  up  large  quantities  of 
water,  which  they  blew  over  their  dusty  sides. 

Some  of  the  natives  now  told  me  that  the 
big,  wounded  elephant  had  rushed  off  by  him- 
self down  the  valley,  toward  the  camp.  We 
immediately  started  in  pursuit,  and,  after  a 
long  chase,  during  which  I  tried  a  few  un- 
successful long  shots,  came  up  with  him  in 
broken  ground.  This  allowed  us  to  gain  a 
little  elevation  in  front,  and  gave  me  a  fore- 
head shot.  Down  he  went,  but  he  was  still 
breathing  when  we  came  up.  This  elephant 
appeared  very  old,  and  had  much  the  best 
ivory  we  obtained. 

The  ivory  from  this  country,  besides  being 
smaller,  is  harder  in  consistency  than  that 
found  in  the  better-watered  regions  farther 
south,  and  for  this  reason  is  not  so  market- 
able. The  most  important  ivory  industry  of 
to-day  is  that  which  makes  use  of  it  for  cover- 
ing piano  and  organ  keys.  By  special  ma- 
chinery, sections  of  the  large,  soft  tusks  from 

105 


I 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


the  south  are  converted  into  gigantic  shav- 
ings of  desirable  thicknesses.  The  knife- 
blade,  starting  from  the  outside,  pares  around 
the  circumference  of  the  tusk  until  it  reaches 
its  very  core.  These  shavings  are  then  placed 
in  water,  and  so  soft  does  the  structure  be- 
come, that  the  strips  uncurl  themselves.  This 
results  in  a  very  easily  worked  material,  and 
with  the  loss  of  hardly  any  ivory  in  the  pro- 
cess. The  hard  northern  ivory,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  very  difficult  to  work,  and  not  at  all 
amenable  to  similar  treatment.  Why  this 
difference  in  size  and  consistency  varies  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  water  in  a  country 
is  not  clear,  except  that  elephants  in  well- 
watered  regions  need  large  and  strong  dig- 
ging implements,  as  they  live  largely  on  roots 
and  bulbs,  whereas  the  animals  in  less  moist 
districts  are  largely  tree  feeders,  and,  not 
requiring  as  large  tusks,  do  not  develop  them. 

The  next  day  we  came  up  with  A.  D.  S., 
and  found  that  he,  also,  had  been  fortunate, 
and  had  several  exciting  encounters  to  relate. 

Our  provisions  were  running  a  little  low,  so 
we  sent  two  men  and  some  camels  back  to 
the  coast  for  supplies.  Natives  attacked 
them  on  the  way  down,  but  were  kept  off  by 

io6 


inor 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

firing  a  few  shots,  and  the  little  band  eventu- 
ally caught  up  with  us  again,  with  a  good  sup- 
ply of  rice,  dates  and  letters.  It  was  in  this 
country  we  fell  in  with  the  Sultan  of  all  the 
Gadabursi  tribes,  and  the  same  who  had 
stripped  the  Italian,  previously  mentioned,  of 
all  his  belongings.  We  managed  to  get  along 
amicably  with  the  crafty  old  chief,  who  in- 
structed his  son  to  show  us  game,  and  made 
us  a  present  of  some  sheep.  In  exchange,  we 
gave  him  some  tobacco  and  highly-colored 
cotton  clothes,  called  kylies.  The  common 
cotton  cloth,  of  which  we  carried  a  large  sup- 
ply, is  the  money  of  the  interior,  and,  curi- 
ously enough,  is  made  in  New  England,  and 
is  known  throughout  a  large  section  of  East 
Africa  as  "  Americany."  The  English  claim  it 
to  be  inferior  to  some  cloth  they  have  tried  to 
Introduce  on  the  coast,  but,  be  that  as  it  may, 
the  natives  say  their  fathers  used  the  "  Amer- 
icany,"  and  it  is  good  enough  for  them. 

The  old  Sultan  became  rather  a  nuisance 
after  the  novelty  of  having  him  about  had 
worn  off,  as  he  hung  about  the  camp  expect- 
ing to  be  entertained  with  picture-books,  etc. 
Fortunately,   A.   D.  S.  had  brought  along  a 

music-box  to  amuse  the  natives,  and  by  play- 

107 


Trail  and  Camp-FIre 


i 


ing  this  continually  we  managed  finally  to 
drive  the  old  fellow  away.  The  sick  people, 
who  came  to  us  to  be  cured,  troubled  us  not  a 
little  here.  In  an  evil  moment,  H.  K.  had  said 
that  the  other  two  sahibs  were  medicine  men ; 
and,  when  this  rumor  became  well  circulated, 
it  caused  a  serious  drain  on  our  mustard  plas- 
ters and  compound  cathartic  pills. 

Since  leaving  the  maritime  plain,  we  had 
been  at  an  altitude  of  about  4,000  feet — for  a 
few  days  from  6,000  to  8,000 — and  remained 
at  about  3,000  feet  for  the  rest  of  the  trip, 
except  during  the  descent  to  the  coast.  This 
insured  us  freedom  from  malarial  troubles. 
How  free  the  air  was  from  germs  will  be 
readily  seen  from  the  following  fact.  Our 
butter,  which  we  had  brought  out  from  Lon- 
don, was  sealed  up  in  two-pound  tin  cans. 
When  opened,  these  cans  lasted  each  one  of 
us  about  ten  days,  and  during  that  time  the 
butter  melted  to  a  liquid  state  during  each 
day,  and  became  solid  again  at  night.  Not- 
withstanding this  fact,  it  remained  perfectly 
sweet  until  used  up. 

Although  disappointed  at  not  finding  more 
signs  of  lion  in  the  Gadabursi  country,  we  got 

some  splendid  antelope  shooting,  principally 

108 


^ 


I 


spe( 


'^~^~'»''^r'  ■    ^ 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

oryx  and  hartcbccst  and  a  few  klipspringcr. 
The  last-named,  a  beautiful  small  mountain 
antelope,  with  curious  quill-like  hairs,  is,  like 
the  chamois,  very  fond  of  peaks  and  preci- 
pices, and  so,  is  difficult  to  approach. 

On  coming  down  from  the  mountains  into 
the  level  country,  large  herds  of  hartebeest, 
with  scattered  bands  of  oryx  and  aoul,  showed 
themselves  on  the  plains.  Though  apparently 
stupid,  the  hartebeest  did  not  prove  easy  vic- 
tims. Before  they  were  much  disturbed,  one 
could  approach  within  about  200  yards  in  the 
Ti  open,  and  take  one  shot ;  but  to  be  perfectly 
sure  of  heart  or  lungs,  with  an  express  .577,  at 
that  distance,  is  not  an  easy  matter,  and,  un- 
less hit  in  a  vital  spot,  these  animals  generally 
made  off  in  the  herd  with  apparently  little  dis- 
comfort. The  Winchester,  .45-90300,  though 
much  more  accurate  than  the  .577  express, 
did  not  prove  as  effective  as  one  could  wish, 
when  used  against  oryx  or  hartebeest  at  long 
ranges,  hard-hit  animals  escaping  with  too 
great  frequency.  But  there  are  probably  very 
few  horned  animals  that  can  match  these  two 
species  for  vitality  and  pluck. 

We  used  to  leave  camp  in  the  morning,  ac- 
companied by  a  few  men  and  a  camel  to  bring 

109 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


back  the  meat,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  for 
us  to  return  at  night,  the  camel  loaded  down 
with  all  he  could  well  carry.  We  gave  away 
most  of  the  game  to  some  neighboring  vil- 
lagers, who  were  glad  to  have  such  feasts, 
and  showed  their  gratitude  by  giving  dances 
before  our  tents. 

One  day,  while  out  shooting  in  this  region, 
a  small  herd  of  oryx  ran  by  in  single  file,  200 
yards  or  more  away.  I  tried  the  Winchester 
on  each  animal  as  he  passed,  and,  at  the  third 
or  fourth  shot,  an  oryx,  badly  wounded  in  the 
left  hind  leg,  suddenly  wheeled  out  of  line, 
and  came  running  down  to  where  we  were 
standing.  He  seemed  very  much  astonished 
on  seeing  us,  lay  down,  and  allowed  us  to 
take  a  photograph  within  ten  feet  without 
offering  to  charge,  something  they  are  very 
apt  to  do  when  wounded  and  at  close  quar- 
ters. 

We  saw  a  number  of  ostriches  at  long  dis- 
tance, and  my  syce  picked  up  a  fresh  ostrich 
Ggg,  which  Abdulla,  the  cook,  scrambled  for 
my  breakfast  next  morning.  Though  a  little 
coarse,  it  was  fair  eating;  but,  like  the  ele- 
phant's foot,  its  very  size,  filling  as  it  did  the 
whole  frying-pan,  destroyed  one's  appetite. 


no 


J 


i^ 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

As  A.  D.  S.  and  I  wished  to  mal<:e  sure  of 
lion  and  rhinoceros,  we  decided  to  cross  the 
Haud,  or  waterless  plain,  lying  to  the  south- 
west, a  five  days*  journey  without  wells.  H. 
K.,  not  caring  to  make  so  extensive  a  trip, 
parted  from  us  here,  and  made  his  way  slowly 
back  to  the  coast. 

One  night,  before  starting  on  this  journey, 
while  smoking  together  after  dinner,  A.  D.  S. 
and  I  were  startled  to  see  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  our  men  range  themselves  about  us  in 
the  growing  darkness.  The  interpreter  said 
they  refused  to  cross  the  waterless  plain  with- 
out increased  pay.  Taking  the  lantern  from 
the  table,  I  walked  around  the  circle,  and 
made  out  the  faces  of  the  malcontents  for 
future  reference.  We  decided  to  make  a  firm 
stand  once  for  all,  and  sent  word  to  the  men, 
after  they  had  dispersed  and  were  gathered 
about  their  camp-fires,  that  they  must  be 
ready  to  march  the  following  day  at  the  old 
wages,  or  make  their  way  back  to  the  coast  as 
best  they  could.  The  next  morning  the  spirit 
of  dissatisfaction  had  fled,  largely  through  the 
efforts  of  my  head  man,  Adan,  who  was  al- 
ways staunch,  and  an  excellent  manager  of  his 

own  people. 

Ill 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

We  filled  up  everything  and  everybody 
with  water — men,  camels,  horses,  goats,  etc. — 
and  started  on  the  five  days'  trip  across  the 
desert.  Here  our  metal  barrels  with  padlocks 
came  in  extremely  well,  as  we  knew  exactly 
how  much  water  was  on  hand  all  the  time, 
and  there  was  no  chance  for  theft.  The 
allowance  per  man  was  one  quart  of  water  a 
day,  and  the  horses  got  three  to  four  gallons 
every  other  day,  which  quantities,  in  both 
cases,  proved  sufficient. 

Even  in  the  middle  of  the  desert  we  saw  a 
fair  number  of  antelope,  principally  oryx  and 
aoul,  which  shows  how  little  they  depend  on 
water.  I  shot  one  good  oryx  and  some  aoul. 
The  oryx,  which  I  had  wounded  with  the 
.577,  as  we  were  returning  from  an  unsuccess- 
ful attempt  to  follow  up  some  lion  tracks,  ran 
a  little  way,  stopped  among  some  mimosa 
trees,  and  resented  every  approach  on  our 
part  by  coming  on  with  lowered  head.  After 
dodging  about  some  time,  I  managed  to  pho- 
tograph him  while  he  was  lying  down. 

The  trail  crossing  the  waterless  plain  gave 
a  rare  opportunity  for  studying  footprints 
of  game,  as  the  carnivorous  animals  con- 
tinually   use    such    paths    for    their    nightly 

112 


f 


I 
I  I 


5BB! 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

prowls.  The  hyena's  track  was  seen  every- 
where ;  a  slovenly  print — like  the  animal  him- 
self— with  toe-nail  points  showing  in  the  sand. 
Then  there  were  the  leopard  and  cheetah 
tracks,  differing  because  the  cheetah  can  only 
partially  retract  his  claws.  Most  noticeable 
of  all  was  the  lion  track.  Clearly  outlined, 
with  no  nail  points  showing,  and  deeply  im- 
pressed in  the  sandy  soil,  it  always  made  one 
think  of  the  five  or  six  hundred  pounds  of 
tremendous  energy  which  had  passed  by,  es- 
pecially when  the  track  was  fresh,  and  the 
men  following  on  the  hot  trail. 

Arrived  on  the  other  side  of  the  plain,  we 
found  some  fair  water,  and  began  to  hear 
news  of  lion  and  rhinoceros.  The  natives 
told  stories  of  lions  continually  jumping  into 
the  native  villages  over  zarebas,  oftentimes 
eight  to  ten  feet  high,  and  carrying  off  sheep 
and  goats,  and  of  one  man,  who  had  been 
recently  killed  by  a  lion,  while  watching  his 
flocks  on  the  hills. 

At  last,  one  day,  when  in  good  rhinoceros 
country,  luck  came  my  way.  For  several  days 
we  had  been  puzzled  in  following  tracks,  but 
managed  one  morning,  after  many  hours'  hard 
work,  to  come  up  with  two  animals  in  rather 

113 


'^ 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

thick  cover.  There  they  stood,  forty  yards 
away,  their  ugly  noses  lifted  high  in  the  air,  in 
complete  astonishment.  At  the  report  of  the 
eight-bore,  they  started  off  at  a  great  pace  ;  but 
lOO  yards  was  as  far  as  the  largest — a  cow — 
could  go,  the  ball  having  entered  her  chest 
and  cut  some  of  the  large  blood  vessels. 

The  smaller  animal  led  us  a  long  chase, 
and,  when  twice  wounded,  charged  quick  as  a 
flash  when  only  about  twenty  feet  off,  in  some 
high  grass.  He  came  right  in  amidst  us, 
and  we  only  avoided  being  run  down  by 
throwing  ourselves  quickly  one  side.  My  men 
laughed  and  joked  about  it ;  but,  notwith- 
standing their  good  nerve,  I  saw  they  were 
not  quite  so  anxious  to  close  in  on  him  again. 
He  gave  in,  eventually,  to  a  little  more  lead. 
A.  D.  S.  also  got  a  couple  of  rhinoceros,  the 
last  one  requiring  a  good  deal  of  shooting.  I 
managed  to  get  up  very  close  to  him  as  he 
was  going  through  the  underbrush,  and  so 
caught  him  with  the  camera.  By  quick  work, 
our  men  cut  the  throat  of  this  animal  before 
he  was  dead,  and,  this  becoming  known,  the 
natives  quickly  swarmed  around  to  strip  off 
the  hide  and  meat.  The  skin  of  the  rhino- 
ceros  is   much   prized    for   shields,    and  the 

114 


} 


I 


I 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

natives  on  the  coast  know  how  to  make  them 
up  very  well. 

This  shooting  was  done  in  a  very  dry  coun- 
try, thickly  covered  with  mimosa,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  send  a  good  way  for  water,  which 
the  rhinoceros  really  does  not  seem  to  care 
much  about.  We  became  acquainted  here 
with  the  so-called  rhinoceros  bird — a  small, 
insignificant  bird,  with  a  harsh,  piercing  cry 
that  immediately  arrests  attention.  He  does 
not,  by  any  means,  always  take  you  to  rhino- 
ceros ;  but,  if  you  follow  him  long  enough,  he 
is  pretty  sure  to  bring  you  to  game,  a  honey 
tree,  a  camp  of  hostile  natives,  or  something 
else  equally  interesting. 

We  were  told  of  a  place,  about  a  day's 
march  away,  where  lions  abounded ;  in  fact, 
though  it  was  the  only  district  in  that  country 
where  there  was  good  green  grass  for  graz- 
ing, none  of  the  natives  dared  take  their 
herds  of  camels  there,  as  one  man,  who  had 
recently  ventured  to  do  so,  lost  several  camels 
by  lions,  and  immediately  withdrew.  On  the 
way  to  these  attractive  hunting  grounds,  A. 
D.  S.  shot  his  first  lion — a  fine,  large  one.  I 
was  fortunate  in  getting  a  leopard  at  the  same 
place ;    and    the    accompanying    photograph 

"5 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

shows  our  camp,  with  the  dead  leopard,  and 
three  small  live  leopards  brought  in  by  natives. 
These  small  leopards  played  about  the  camp 
like  kittens,  and  were  very  sociable  and  much 
at  home. 

Arrived  at  the  green  hunting  grounds,  we 
found  plenty  of  lion  tracks,  and  the  next 
morning  early,  I  bagged  my  first  lion.  We 
found  he  had  followed  up  our  caravan  track 
during  the  night,  and,  coming  up  to  the  zare- 
ba,  within  twenty  feet  of  A.  D.  S.'s  tent,  was 
undoubtedly  about  to  jump  in,  when  the  sen- 
try shouted  at  him.  He  growled,  and  turn- 
ing, saw  a  donkey,  which  had  been  staked 
outside  the  zareba,  and  near  which  I  was, 
lying  behind  some  thorn  brush.  In  one  or 
two  bounds  the  lion  had  cleared  the  space, 
and  all  was  soon  over  with  the  poor  donkey 
My  stand  was  only  ten  feet  away,  and,  as  the 
dust  cleared,  I  saw  the  lion  holding  the  don- 
key up,  off  the  ground,  by  the  throat.  Aim- 
ing at  his  neck,  I  fired,  and  without  any  other 
sound  than  a  long  sigh,  the  lion  sank  down 
on  the  ground  in  a  perfectly  natural  position, 
the  donkey  still  in  his  mouth.  The  ball  had 
smashed  the  spinal  column  close  to  the  skull, 
and    killed    him    instantly.      We    shot,    alto- 

Ii6 


/ 


» 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

gether,    six    lions    in    this   region,    of   which 
number  four  came  my  way. 

The  most  interesting  situation  we  were 
placed  in  at  all  was  with  a  wounded  animal, 
which  our  men  tried  to  drive  out  to  us  from  a 
patch  of  brush.  Stationed  only  thirty  feet 
away,  on  the  other  side,  which  meant  only 
one  shot  in  case  of  a  charge,  one  thought  of 
all  the  chances.  The  drive  did  not  succeed, 
however,  in  this  particular  case,  and  we  were 
finally  obliged  to  go  into  the  brush,  where 
A.  D.  S.  gave  the  quieting  shot.  Our  men 
showed  the  greatest  pluck  at  this  time.  They 
crawled  in,  until  they  could  see  the  animal, 
only  fifteen  feet  away,  and  called  to  us  to  fol- 
low with  the  rifles,  which  we  were  compelled 
to  do,  no  matter  what  we  thought  of  it.  Such 
bravery  of  the  natives,  as  mentioned  above,  is 
common  among  these  people,  and  several  in- 
stances are  told  of  shikaris  deliberately  grasp- 
ing a  lion  by  the  mane,  and  pulling  him  off 
from  a  white  man  whom  he  was  mauling. 

Another  story  is  told  of  an  English  officer, 

who   was    caught   by   a    wounded    elephant. 

While  the  frenzied  animal  was  trampling  the 

white  man  to  death,  his  shikari,  armed  only 

with  a  spear,  rushed  in  and  prodded  the  beast 

117 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

with  his  ineffective  weapon.  The  elephant 
stopped  his  devilish  work  for  a  moment, 
seized  the  native  by  an  arm,  and  threw  him 
away  with  such  force  as  to  tear  the  arm  from 
the  body.  This  man  still  lives  on  the  coast — 
an  example  of  extreme  devotion. 

The  resident  wrote  me  about  an  amusing 
incident  which  happened  to  another  ofificer, 
while  on  a  shooting  expedition,  some  months 
after  we  had  left  the  country.  This  English-^ 
man  was  awakened  out  of  a  sound  sleep  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  and  quickly  realized 
that  some  large  animal  had  firmly  closed  his 
jaws  on  his  arm,  and  was  trying  to  pull  him 
out  of  bed.  He  instinctively  threw  his  other 
arm  around  the  further  side  of  the  light  cot 
bed,  and  the  next  tug  sent  everything  down 
in  a  heap.  He  knew  by  this  time  the  animal 
was  a  lion,  and  was  much  relieved  when  the 
beast,  becoming  rattled,  snatched  up  the  pil- 
low instead  of  the  man,  and  made  off  with  it. 
The  writer  added  that  the  ofificer  was  not 
much  hurt,  but  was  very  indignant. 

A  little  more  luck  still  awaited  me  in  the 
green  grass  country,  for  it  was  here  I  fell  in 
with  some  lesser  kudu  antelope,  an  animal  of 
great  beauty,  and  rarely  seen.     As  my  shikari 

n8 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

and  I  were  walking  down  through  the  green 
belt  one  morning,  a  lesser  kudu  suddenly 
sprang  into  view,  and  gave  me  a  running  end 
on  shot  about  fifty  yards  off.  We  saw  he  was 
hit,  and  following  quickly  through  some  brush 
came  on  another  male  kudu,  which  was  cross- 
ing only  thirty  yards  away,  offering  an  easy 
running  shot.  He  only  went  a  short  distance, 
with  the  .577  ball  behind  his  shoulder.  A 
quick  run  brought  us  up  to  the  animal  first 
wounded,  which  was  soon  brought  down.  By 
good  fortune,  in  stumbling  upon  these  beau- 
tiful creatures,  we  had  in  a  few  minutes  ob- 
tained two  fine  specimens  of  a  rare  species. 

While  camped  here,  we  had  company  near 
by  in  the  shape  of  a  large  native  camel  currier 
or  village.  The  news  had  spread  that  two 
white  sahibs  had  come  on  the  ground  for  the 
special  purpose  of  killing  off  lion  ;  so  these 
people  immediately  moved  in,  and  said  they 
would  remain  as  long  as  we  stayed,  and  kept 
up  the  good  work  of  extermination. 

We  were  obliged  finally,  however,  to  move 
on  from  this  happiest  hunting  ground  of  all. 
Our  stock  of  provisions  was  getting  low,  and 
every  day  made  it  shrink  alarmingly.     It  was 

not  easy  to  leave  a  spot  where  we  had  had 

119 


9 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

such  good  sport,  and  which,  besides,  was  so 
well  fitted  for  a  camping  place  that  we  felt 
quite  at  home  there. 

The  green  belt — one  and  a  half  miles  long 
and  half  a  mile  wide — is  a  broken  combina- 
tion of  bunches  of  mimosa  and  small  mea- 
dows, and  our  camp,  pitched  at  one  end 
against  a  little  forest,  looked  out  on  a  small 
green  field  of  grass.  Our  tents  being  pitched 
side  by  side,  we  took  our  meals  together, 
and  we  spent  many  pleasant  hours  after  din- 
ner, smoking  our  evening  pipes,  making  plans 
for  the  morrow,  and  listening  to  the  chattering 
of  the  men,  their  forms  dimly  seen  about  the 
camp-fires  against  the  barrier  of  the  zareba, 
as  they  discussed  their  sahibs,  their  voices 
mingled  with  the  cries  of  the  camels,  sounds 
which  one  gets  to  like,  and  would  give  much 
to  hear  once  more.  But  move  away  we  must, 
and  a  few  marches  brought  us  again  to  the 
water  holes,  which  supply  the  country  for 
miles  about.  Drilled  through  the  solid  rock 
at  some  earlier  period,  by  means  unknown, 
these  wells  are  about  forty  feet  deep  to  the 
water  level.  A  chain  of  six  or  eight  men  is 
kept  busy  all  day  long,  as,  standing  one  above 
the  other  on  small  ledges,  which  occur  at  in- 

I20 


) 


Mk«»'^ 


f 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

tervals  on  the  sides  of  the  wells,  incessantly 
chanting,  they  pass  the  water  up,  in  hol- 
lowed out  sections  of  trees,  to  the  troughs. 
The  troughs  are  all  day  long  surrounded  by 
crowds  of  thirsty  camels,  sheep  and  goats, 
which  may  be  seen  breaking  into  a  run  as 
they  reach  the  crest  of  the  bluff  overlooking 
the  wells,  and  begin  to  hear  the  splash  of  the 
cool  water  near  at  hand. 

A  day's  march  from  these  wells,  while  sepa- 
rated from  A.  D.  S.,  I  came  unexpectedly  one 
night  on  a  small  village,  to  find  that  an  Abyssi- 
nian, armed  with  a  Remington  rifle  had,  single- 
handed,  compelled  the  villagers  to  pay  him 
a  tribute  of  sheep  and  goats.  The  natives 
unarmed  as  they  were,  could  not  resist,  espe- 
cially as  other  Abyssinians  were  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. As  soon  as  we  had  located  oui 
camp,  this  robber  came  in  a  very  humble  way, 
kissed  my  hand,  and  tried  to  make  matters 
smooth  by  offering  presents  of  sheep,  which 
he  had  just  stolen.  He  was  told  that  unless 
he  had  disappeared  early  next  day  he  would 
be  taken  to  the  coast,  and,  although  he  was 
not  about  in  the  morning,  he  undoubtedly 
returned  shortly  after  we  left.  These  people 
suffer  yearly  from  Abyssinian  raids,  and,  be- 

121 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

i  far  in  the  interior,  cannot  be  assisted 

fi^-.i  the  coast. 

Not  far  from  this  village,  my  shikari  and  I 
fell  in  with  a  big  kudu,  an  animal  we  had  been 
unfortunate  in  stalking  before,  and  which  is 
the  largest  antelope  of  the  country.  As  we 
were  skirting  some  low  hills  in  thick  brush,  we 
were  startled  by  the  sudden  rush  of  an  animal 
which  sprang  up  ahead  of  us,  and  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  pair  of  curved  horns  disappear- 
ing on  our  left.  My  shikari  shouted  to  me  to 
run  to  the  right,  and  as  we  came  out  of  the 
brush,  a  large  kudu,  with  wide  spreading 
horns,  appeared  racing  along  on  a  little  hill- 
side eighty  yards  away.  I  was  too  quick  with 
the  first  barrel,  but  the  second  brought  him 
down  with  a  bullet  in  the  spine. 

On  our  next  march  we  came  unexpectedly 
on  two  leopards,  in  a  small  ravine,  which  at- 
tracted our  attention  by  their  purring.  I  hesi- 
tated a  second  too  long,  looking  at  the  beau- 
ties, and  when  I  did  fire,  was  obliged  to  shoot 
through  a  small  bush,  and  missed.  Twice 
before  I  lost  leopards  when  they  should  have 
been  mine.  Once,  when  I  tried  to  exchange 
guns  with  my  shikari  at  a  critical  moment, 
and  again,  by  attempting  a  difficult  head  on 

122 


An  African  Shooting  Trip 

shot  with  the  .577  when  I  should  have  tried 
my  Winchester. 

The  waterless  plain  was  ahead  of  us,  and,  to 
help  out  the  rice  and  dates,  I  bought  a  fatted 
camel  for  the  men,  who  enjoyed  it  hugely, 
drying  big  strips  over  the  fire,  so  as  to  pre- 
serve it  for  the  journey.  The  hump,  one  solid 
mass  of  fat,  weighed  at  least  fifty  pounds,  but 
the  flesh  had  for  us  a  strong,  unpleasant  taste, 
and  all  we  could  manage  were  the  marrow 
bones,  which  were  decidedly  good. 

Arrived  at  the  coast  by  an  uninterrupted 
journey,  we  parted  from  our  staunch  follow- 
ers— men  who  might  joke  and  laugh  about 
the  camp-fire  in  the  evening  should  you  be 
killed  during  the  day,  while  fighting  it  out 
with  dangerous  game,  but  whom  we  admired 
immensely  for  their  bravery  and  manliness — 
men  whom  you  knew  you  could  trust  to  stay 
with  you  at  all  times. 

We  were  most  hospitably  received  by  the 
resident,  and  in  a  few  days  caught  a  boat,  and 
left  with  our  skins  and  ivory,  thorough  believ- 
ers in  the  native  saying  that  Mohammed  does 
not  count  the  days  spent  in  shikar. 


I 


Wm.  Lord  S^nith. 


123 


Sintamaskin 


The  early  morning  of  Thursday,  the  last 

day   of   January,   was   clear  and   still.      The 

heavy  snowstorm  of  the  day  before  had  ceased 

during  the  night,  leaving  a  new  layer,  a  foot 

in   depth,  upon  that  which  already  lay  deep 

over  mountain  and  lake,  and  piling  itself  high 

upon   every  branch  and   twig   of   the   dense 

forest  about  us.     I  had  awakened  at  three, 

still   conscious   of   the   effects  of   yesterday's 

long  tramp,  when  Peter  and  I  had  followed 

for  eight  hours  the  fresh  tracks  of  a  herd  of 

seven  caribou,   far  over  steep  hills,    through 

heavy  timber,  and  in  deep,  soft  snow,  only  to 

find  that  the  waning  day  bade  us  strike  out 

for  camp ;  for  the  further  route  of  our  game 

was  still  to  be  disentangled  from  a  labyrinth 

of  tracks  made  where  they  had  stopped  to 

feed.    We  had  eaten  our  lunch  as  we  marched, 

delay  being  a  thing  to  avoid,  and  fire  out  of 

the  question  on  so  fresh  a  trail ;  and  when  we 

reached  camp  again,  just  as  darkness  closed 

124 


I 


Sintamaskin 

in,  we  were  a  tired  and  hungry  pair.  So  it 
was  with  difficulty  now  that  I  summoned  up 
resolution  to  perform  the  duty  of  which  the 
biting  cold  upon  my  face  and  the  snapping  of 
the  log  walls  of  our  camp  apprised  me,  and 
resisted  the  insidious  argument  that  I  really 
was  not  awake.  To  leave  the  snug  shelter  of 
warm  blankets  in  order  to  rake  together  a  few 
almost  extinct  embers,  nurse  them  into  a 
glow,  and  pile  the  stove  full  of  wood  is  not  an 
alluring  task  at  such  a  time ;  but  camp-fire 
etiquette,  sometimes  relaxed  in  the  milder  au- 
tumn season,  must  be  rigidly  adhered  to,  even 
indoors,  in  these  long,  frigid  winter  nights. 
Therefore  my  companion  and  I  had  made  the 
usual  agreement  that  he  who  woke  first  should 
forthwith  replenish  the  fire,  and  as  his  deep 
breathing  was  now  proof  that  nothing  was  to 
be  expected  of  him,  I  conquered  my  slothful 
disinclination,  and  a  roaring  blaze  at  last  re- 
warded my  efforts.  Then  I  opened  the  door 
upon  such  a  night  as  only  the  northern  winter 
can  show. 

Silence,  absolute  and  supreme ;  the  rich 
purple-black  of  the  sky  revealing  its  immeas- 
urable depth,  in  which  hung,  clear  and  round 

and  at  many  distances,  the  myriad  stars  which 

125 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

filled  it ;  in  the  north  the  great  pale  arc  of  the 
aurora  reflected  faintly  on  the  white  snow 
lying  over  the  open  space  of  the  river  in  front 
of  us.  But  the  keen  air  allowed  little  time  for 
more  than  a  swift  glance ;  then  a  match  light- 
ed showed  the  mercury  at  eighteen  degrees 
below  zero — not  extreme,  but  cold  enough 
to  make  blankets  desirable  ;  so  I  got  back 
into  them  without  further  delay,  and  fell 
asleep. 

The  next  thing  I  knew,  some  one  else  was 
poking  the  fire  ;  the  room  was  warm,  and  the 
light  of  day  came  through  the  windows.  I 
turned  and  saw  the  red  "  tuque,"  straight 
black  hair,  and  copper  skin  of  Peter  lit  up  by 
the  flames  as  he  bent  over  the  stove.  Seeing 
me  stir,  he  remarked  that  breakfast  was  nearly 
ready,  and  that  the  morning  was  "  varry  cold." 
Signs  of  life  now  appeared  in  George,  my 
companion,  and  soon  we  were  at  breakfast, 
with  that  appetite  which  surely  is  not  the  least 
boon  of  a  woodland  life.  Peter  was  right 
about  the  cold.  It  was  nearly  eight  o'clock 
now,  and  the  thermometer  stood  at  twenty- 
seven  degrees  below  zero,  but  the  cloudless 
sky  and  perfectly  still  air  were  a  promise  that 
this  would  be  the  best  of  all  days  for  a  winter 

136 


Sintamaskin 


tramp.  The  journey  we  had  planned  was  a 
rather  long  one,  and  offered  a  considerable 
variety  of  snow-shoeing,  but  we  were  in  good 
trim  for  it,  and  had  no  fear  of  rough  climbing 
or  tangled  windfalls. 

The  use  of  snow-shoes  is  not  a  difficult 
matter,  even  for  the  beginner.  Like  every 
other  form  of  athletic  pursuit,  it  requires  some 
practice  to  overcome  the  awkwardness  of  first 
attempts,  and  to  acquire  familiarity  in  dealing 
with  the  little  complications  of  woodland 
travel,  such  as  windfalls,  thick  bush,  and  steep 
places.  But  the  same  is  true  to  some  extent 
of  all  walking,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  any 
one  who  likes  wholesome  exercise,  and  can 
ride  a  horse  or  a  bicycle,  row  a  boat  or  paddle 
a  canoe,  should  hesitate  about  making  a  win- 
ter hunt  through  fear  of  the  much  exagger- 
ated difficulties  of  snow-shoeing. 

The  first  time  that  I  ever  put  on  snow-shoes 
I  started  out  with  the  usual  stiff-legged,  strad- 
dling gait  of  the  beginner,  and  his  conviction 
that  the  huge  and  cumbersome  things  were 
skillfully  designed  to  impede  my  progress. 
The  first  advice  of  my  Indian  instructor  was 
to  "  limber  up  "  my  joints,  and  walk  as  though 
I  had  no  snow-shoes  on.     Acting  upon  this,  I 

X37 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

managed  to  go  a  mile  up  a  steep  hillside  and 
back  again,  with  tolerable  success.  The  next 
day  I  hunted  caribou,  walking  about  ten  miles. 
After  that  we  did  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
miles  every  day,  in  a  very  rough  country, 
and  in  snow  that  was  both  deep  and  soft, 
my  companion  being  a  man  who  not  only  had 
not  worn  snow-shoes,  but  had  never  even 
been  in  the  woods. 

The  shoes  should  be  large,  and  not  too 
heavy ;  the  webbing  of  the  best,  and  tightly 
strung.  The  strings  should  be  of  moose-hide, 
in  the  aboriginal  fashion — the  white  man's 
"  improvement,"  of  straps,  is  a  snare  and  a 
deception.  The  strings  must  be  carefully 
adjusted,  which  takes  a  little  trouble  at  the 
outset,  but  is  of  the  first  importance.  If  too 
tight  they  hurt  the  foot ;  if  too  loose  they 
allow  it  to  slip  forward,  and  catch  under  the 
toe  bar  in  a  way  that  is  dangerous  when  going- 
down  hill.  The  foot-gear  varies  somewhat 
with  individual  preference ;  but  there  should 
be  several  pairs  of  thick  woolen  stockings  or 
socks,  and  over  these  moccasins  or  felt  boots. 
For  one  whose  feet  are  not  toughened  by 
much  snow-shoeing,  I  advise  the  use  over  all 

of    snow-shoe    rubbers — heavy    rubber   over- 

12S 


I 


Sintamaskin 

shoes  without  heels.  They  are  a  valuable 
protection  against  the  chafing  of  the  strings, 
which  must  be  worn  pretty  tight  over  the 
toes,  and,  by  retaining  the  heat  of  the  foot, 
they  largely  prevent  the  melting  of  the  snow 
under  the  instep,  and  its  caking  on  the  web- 
bing. They  must  always  be  longer  than  the 
foot,  to  allow  ample  room  beyond  the  ends 
of  the  toes.  With  proper  foot-gear,  then, 
good  shoes,  and  a  little  instruction  from  an 
expert,  the  beginner  may  rapidly  qualify  him- 
self for  one  of  the  most  exhilarating  methods 
of  pursuing  the  moose  or  caribou.  He  will 
not  attempt  too  much  at  first,  and  he  will  take 
in  good  temper,  I  trust,  the  little  mishaps  that 
come  to  him  ;  and  bear  in  mind  that,  though 
an  occasional  wild  plunge  head-foremost  into 
winter's  mantle  is  alarming,  and  the  subse- 
quent struggles  rather  exasperating,  still  no 
harm  results.  As  for  distances,  they  vary,  of 
course,  with  the  strength  and  skill  of  the  indi- 
vidual, the  nature  of  the  country,  the  weather, 
and  the  depth  and  quality  of  the  snow.  I 
know  men,  Indians  and  trappers,  who  have 
made  great  distances  in  a  continuous  journey. 
My  own  trips  to  the  wilderness  have  usually 

been  made  at  times  when  I  stood  in  need  of 

129 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

physical  recuperation ;  so  that  I  have  not 
been  in  condition  to  undertake  great  efforts. 
My  best  day's  tramp  was  about  twenty-five 
miles.  Of  course  I  am  speaking,  be  it  under- 
stood, of  the  season  of  the  year  when  it  is  still 
legal  to  kill  game,  during  which  time  the  snow 
is  soft,  except  when  packed  by  the  wind  upon 
the  open  surface  of  lakes.  Of  the  barbarous 
and  unsportsmanlike  practice  of  "crusting"  I 
know  nothing  by  experience. 

I  write  this  because  I  have  so  often  been 
asked  by  my  fellow-sportsmen  whether  the  art 
of  snow-shoeing  were  not  so  difficult  as  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  a  winter  camping-trip.  I 
think  this  idea  arises  partly  from  the  fact  that 
some  writers  have  mistaken  their  own  lack  of 
skill,  or  want  of  competent  instruction,  or 
perhaps  their  pig-headedness,  for  an  inherent 
difficulty  in  the  sport  they  describe ;  and  I 
think  1  have  even  detected  occasional  traces 
of  a  desire  to  magnify  their  own  exploits  by 
exaggerating  the  difficulty  of  what  they  have 
done ;  but  these  exaggerations  are  to  be  de- 
plored when  they  tend  to  discourage  others 
from  wholesome  enjoyments.  But  to  return 
to  our  day's  journey. 

This  was  the  last  day  of  the  open  season ; 

130 


Sintamaskin 


f 


i 


to-morrow  the  law  would  stand  oetween  our 
rifles  and  the  game — no  obstacle,  perhaps, 
save  to  a  sportsman's  conscience.  George 
was  safe  from  a  blank  score — he  had  killed 
his  caribou,  a  young  bull,  two  days  before ; 
but  I  had  not  yet  had  a  shot.  Peter  had 
urged  upon  me  strongly  the  desirability  of  our 
taking  up  again  the  tracks  of  yesterday  where 
we  had  left  them,  back  in  the  mountains,  say- 
ing:  "  Ah  '11  t'ought  he's  not  go  varry  far ; 
sure  he's  got  wan  varry  large  caribou  ;  that's 
good  chance  for  find  'um ; "  and  had  this  not 
been  our  last  day,  I  should  probably  have 
adopted  this  plan.  But  the  trip  decided  upon 
was  to  a  point  which  I  had  long  wished  to 
reach,  and  it  had  been  postponed  from  day  to 
day  since  our  arrival  here,  for  various  reasons. 
It  offered,  moreover,  a  fair  probability  of  see- 
ing game — caribou,  that  is,  for  we  had  found 
no  sign  of  moose  upon  any  of  the  hills,  which 
we  had  explored  in  many  directions.  So 
Peter's  views  did  not  prevail. 

Now,  as  for  the  place  we  were  going  to,  I 
knew  little  more  than  that,  some  years  before, 
when  poring  over  a  map  of  this  region,  lost  in 
speculations  concerning  the  distant  lakes  and 
rivers,  my  fancy  had  been  captivated  by  a  name, 

131 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

the  name  of  a  lake — Sintamaskin  * — which 
lay  some  distance  beyond  the  farthest  point 
I  had  then  reached  in  my  brief  camping-trips. 
Names  are  misleading.  This  is  a  country  of 
many  lakes,  greatly  diverse  in  character  and 
of  very  varying  degrees  of  beauty  ;  and  I  had 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  lake  possessed 
any  special  charm  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
hundreds  of  others  about  it.  Yet  the  name 
lingered  in  my  memory,  and  in  those  sudden 
waves  of  longing  that  come  to  all  of  us  who 
love  the  woods,  it  would  recur  to  me  with  a 
strange  wild  flavor  of  the  far-away  northern 
forest.  Gradually,  however,  it  faded  from  my 
recollection,  and  had  not  been  recalled  to  me 
until  a  few  days  ago,  when,  as  we  were  set- 
ting out  upon  our  trip,  a  friend,  familiar  with 
all  this  region,  said :  "  You'd  better  go  over 
to  Lac  Sintamaskin  ; "  and,  after  describing  it, 
he  added  :  **  You'll  see  fine  timber  there  ;  you 
know  it  has  never  had  a  dam  on  it."  Just 
what  this  meant  can  best  be  realized  by  those 
to  whom  our  northeastern  wilderness  is  known. 


*  Sintamaskin  :  the  first  syllable  nasal,  like  the  French  saint;  ac- 
cent on  the  last  syllable,  which  is  pronounced  as  English  kin.  The 
Algonquin  word  is  Sattamoihkd,  and  is  said  to  signify  "Shallow 
River." 

132 


/ 


Sintamaskin 

The  first  act  of  the  devastating  lumberman, 
about  to  ply  his  trade  on  any  lake  and  its 
tributaries,  is  to  build  across  the  outlet  of  that 
lake  a  big  dam,  which,  through  the  indiffer- 
ence of  improvident  legislatures,  he  is  allowed 
to  leave,  and  which  remains,  for  years  after 
his  operations  are  concluded,  a  hideous  monu- 
ment to  the  brutality  of  man.  By  means  of 
the  dam  the  water  of  the  lake  is  raised  far 
above  its  natural  level ;  the  shores  are 
drowned,  and  their  original  beauty  is  forever 
destroyed.  The  waters  recede,  but  they  leave 
behind  them  a  ghastly  fringe  of  bare  stones 
and  dead  gray  trees,  to  take  the  place  of  the 
banks  carpeted  to  the  water's  edge  with  vel- 
vety many-hued  mosses ;  the  lovely  grass- 
grown  beaches  of  pebbles  and  white  sand ; 
the  graceful  boughs  of  the  innumerable  forest 
trees  which  hung  over  all  and  mirrored  their 
shimmering  foliage  in  the  tranquil  waters. 
Sometimes,  indeed,  it  happens,  as  in  the  case 
of  one  exquisite  jewel  of  the  wilderness  I 
have  in  mind — the  Little  Wayagamac — that  a 
lake  has  an  outlet  which  for  some  reason  can- 
not be  dammed,  but  which  furnishes  enough 
water  without  a  dam  to  float  away  the  logs  on 
the  spring  freshets.     In  these  cases  the  heavy 

133 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

hand  of  the  impious  and  wasteful  lumberman 
falls  less  cruelly,  and  if  fire  does  not  follow  in 
his  train,  destroying  all,  we  dismiss  him  from 
our  thoughts,  with  curses  upon  him  only  for 
having  cut  down  all  the  pines.  But  Sintamas- 
kin,  I  learned,  falls  within  neither  of  these 
categories.  High  upon  the  very  summit  of 
the  hills,  and  distant  only  some  three  miles 
from  the  main  river,  it  discharges  its  waters 
down  the  steep  mountains  in  a  tumbling, 
rock-strewn  flood,  and  dam  or  no  dam,  the 
lumberman  cannot  handle  his  logs  in  that 
precipitous  descent.  Some  day  he  will  find 
another  way,  perhaps ;  but,  for  the  present, 
nature's  defense  holds  good,  and  this  spot  is 
still  inviolate.  So  it  seemed  that  I  might 
look  for  some  sort  of  confirmation  of  my 
fancies  concerning  it.  To  be  sure,  now  that 
the  deep  snow  had  blotted  out  all  but  the 
boldest  shore-lines,  we  could  hardly  hope  to 
realize  one  of  the  greatest  beauties  of  this  still 
unmolested  lake.  But  my  resolve  to  go  there 
was  none  the  less  firm,  and  even  George,  to 
whom  the  whole  country  was  a  new  wonder, 
caught  something  of  the  infection,  so  that 
now  both  our  voices  were  raised  against  the 
proposal  of  the  Indian  to  take  up  again  the 

134 


» 


Sintamaskin 

trail   of  yesterday,  and  our  start  was  made 
upon  the  road  to  Sintamaskin. 

For  the  first  time  since  our  arrival  in  camp 
we  set  forth  all  together,  George  and  I  and 
our  two  Indians,  whom,  since  they  were  both 
named  Pierre,  we  distinguished  by  calling  one 
Peter  and  the  other  Pierre  Joseph.  They 
were  both  typical  members  of  the  Abenaki 
race.  Pierre  Joseph,  whom  we  found  here,  is 
a  somewhat  morose  and  taciturn  creature, 
given,  say  those  who  know  him,  to  fits  of  im- 
practicable sullenness  at  times,  which  make 
him  an  undesirable  partner.  Hence  he  tends 
his  traps  alone,  which  are  scattered  through 
the  woods  to  the  west  and  north  of  us,  on  the 
upper  branches  of  the  Wastaneau  and  the 
waters  flowing  into  the  Vermilion ;  and  in 
this  vast  waste  he  leads  his  solitary  life,  un- 
solicitous  of  human  companionship,  making 
day  by  day  the  round  of  his  traps,  with  the 
leathern  strap  across  his  forehead  by  which  he 
drags  the  toboggan  carrying  his  furs  and  his 
supplies.  At  the  end  of  the  day's  journey  he 
finds  shelter  in  one  of  the  little  round-topped 
bark  wigwams  that  he  has  built  in  convenient 
places.  He  is  universally  conceded  to  be  a 
skilled  hunter,  and,  despite  his  rather  gloomy 

135 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

reputation,    he   was  always   obliging   enough 
while  with  us. 

Peter  is  a  character,  an  old  friend  of  mine, 
a  tall  man  of  quiet  movements.  His  com- 
plexion is  somewhat  ruddier  than  is  usual 
among  his  degenerate  people,  and  his  features 
have  something  of  the  aquiline  which  typifies 
the  Indian.  His  expression  is  of  both  dignity 
and  sweetness,  his  courtesy  unfailing,  and  his 
industry  untiring.  He  has  the  keenest  sense 
of  humor,  and  is  a  most  entertaining  story- 
teller; his  voice  soft  and  musical.  Altogether 
he  has  a  winning  personality,  whose  only  fault 
is  the  old  one  that  has  been  the  ruin  of  his 
race,  and  that  has  led  him  into  serious  trouble 
more  than  once  upon  his  return  to  the  haunts 
of  men.  And  yet  so  ingratiating  is  this  per- 
sonality that  time  and  again,  by  sheer  virtue 
of  that  alone,  1  ^""as  restored  himself  to  favor 
among  those  who  i.  I  every  reason  to  exhibit 
only  severity.  He  is  a  descendant  and  bears 
the  surname  of  that  captive  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Deerfield,  Samuel  Gill,  whose 
story  Parkman  tells  in  "A  Half-Century  of 
Conflict."  Now,  after  nearly  two  centuries, 
here  was  I,  in  part  the  descendant  of  that 

nation    which,    through    the    ferocity    of    its 

136 


f 


Sintamaskin 

bloodthirsty  savage  allies,  had  been  so  bit- 
terly hated  and  so  desperately  feared  by  the 
struggling  colonies,  and  with  me  as  guide  in 
the  trackless  Canadian  wilds  was  this  child  of 
the  wilderness,  this  descendant  of  the  little 
Massachusetts  Puritan. 

The  first  three  miles  of  our  journey  were 
northward  down  the  river  upon  which  our 
camp  faced,  the  south  branch  of  Wastaneau. 
At  this  point,  about  a  mile  below  the  lake  of 
the  same  name,  it  is  a  quiet,  winding  stream, 
flowing  between  banks  that  in  summer  are 
low  and  grassy,  with  the  hills  rising  behind 
them  on  either  hand ;  but  now  the  snow  had 
in  great  part  obliterated  the  distinction  be- 
tween river  and  bank,  and  we  cut  off  many 
turns  of  the  stream,  passing  over  land  where  a 
few  isolated  twigs,  sticking  at  random  from 
the  white  surface,  were  all  that  indicated  the 
thick  bushes  I  should  see  when  paddling  my 
canoe  here  the  following  September.  Gradu- 
ally the  hills  approached  the  river  and  the  low 
banks  disappeared ;  one  or  two  rocks  showed 
their  heads  in  a  narrow  place.  The  men  went 
slowly,  sounding  with  poles  through  the  snow 
to  see  if  the  ice  were  good — the  first  premoni- 
tion of  what  lay  but  a  little  way  beyond  ;  for 

137 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

there  the  river  leaped  suddenly  over  the  brink 
of  a  ragged  wall  of  rock,  and  turning  sharp  to 
the  east,  went  dashing  and  roaring  down  into 
a  deep  gorge,  through  which  it  swirled  in 
foaming  whirlpools  and  cascades.  Cliffs  and 
great  walls  of  forest-clad  mountain  rose  sheer 
above  it ;  between  them  we  saw  it  far  beneath 
us,  to  where  it  turned  around  the  shoulder  of 
a  mountain  and  ran  off  again  to  the  north,  to 
its  junction  with  the  other  branches,  the 
Riviere  du  Milieu  and  the  Riviere  du  Nord 
Thence  the  three  streams,  united,  flow  east- 
ward into  the  St.  Maurice — Madoba-lod'ni- 
tukw,  the  Abenaki  call  it — some  twenty-five 
miles  below  La  Tuque,  ancient  gathering- 
place  of  the  dreaded  Iroquois  in  their  bloody 
raids  upon  their  northern  neighbors. 

At  the  falls  we  left  the  river  and  began  our 
climb  up  the  mountain.  It  was  a  long  and 
toilsome  ascent,  guided  only  by  the  blazed 
trees — for  there  was  no  other  sign  of  port- 
age— and  as  steep  as  it  is  practicable  to  climb 
on  snow-shoes.  We  pulled  ourselves  up  by 
branches  and  the  trunks  of  trees,  often  hold- 
ing to  them  with  one  hand,  and  reaching  back 
with  the  other  to  grasp  the  extended  rifle  of 
the  man  below  and  haul  him  up  ;  continually 

138 


/ 


Sintamaskin 

fearful  lest  the  soft  snow  might  slide  with  us 
bodily,  and  send  us  rolling  helpless  downward. 
We  were  up  at  last,  however ;  and  now  our 
path  was  easier,  though  still  rough,  and  along 
the  side  of  steep  slopes,  and  up  and  down 
many  sharp  pitches.  We  were  passing  through 
a  heavy  forest,  our  course  to  the  east,  about 
parallel  with  the  ravine  of  the  river.  We 
went,  of  course,  in  single  file,  the  men  taking 
turns  at  leading,  for  the  work  of  him  who 
"breaks  track"  is  much  the  hardest.  The 
snow  was  about  four  feet  deep  on  a  level,  and 
far  more  than  that  in  places.  It  was  soft,  and 
though  our  snow-shoes  were  large — very  dif- 
ferent from  the  slender  toys  one  sees  in  the 
shop  windows  of  Montreal — our  tracks  were 
at  least  a  foot  in  depth.  This  meant  heavy 
going  for  us,  though  it  did  not  seem  to  im- 
pede the  caribou.  The  trees  on  our  left 
opened,  and  our  path  led  near  the  edge  of  the 
ravine.  It  was  just  at  the  point  where  it 
turned  to  the  north,  and  through  the  snow- 
laden  branches  we  caught  glimpses  of  a  mar- 
velous distance :  long  walls  of  mountain,  russet 
and  gray  with  the  naked  limbs  of  great  hard- 
wood trees,  or  deep  green  with  tier  upon  tier 
of  spruce  and  fir ;   here  and  there  the  light 

139 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

green  of  a  pine — all  hoary  with  snow  lying 
high  upon  every  branch,  even  to  the  very  top 
of  the  tallest  trees ;  then  farther  lines  of  hills, 
their  banks  of  evergreens  showing  an  unimag- 
inable deep  blue  in  this  intensely  clear  air; 
beyond  all,  in  the  extreme  distance,  faint, 
translucent  hills  of  blue  and  violet  melting 
into  the  sky,  and  one  clear  note  of  rosy  white, 
a  far-away  burned  mountain. 

Next  we  plunged  into  dense  forest  of  deep 
green  :  the  ground  was  level ;  were  it  summer 
we  should  be  walking  on  spongy  green  moss. 
All  about  us  the  tall  straight  stems  of  spruce 
and  fir  rose  high  into  the  air,  their  dark 
branches  interlacing  overhead.  Among  their 
feet  were  the  little  balsams,  an  endless  wealth 
of  Christmas  trees ;  but  here  their  fragrant 
branches  were  adorned  only  with  snow,  piled 
upon  them  so  deep  that  they  were  pyramids 
of  white,  merely  flecked  here  and  there  with 
a  green  which,  by  contrast,  looked  black  and 
colorless.  So  thick  they  stood  that  we  could 
see  for  only  a  few  yards,  and  their  branches 
brushed  our  faces  and  sent  heavy  showers  and 
lumps  of  snow  upon  us  as  we  passed.  The 
hoarse  croak  of  a  raven  overhead  brought  to 

my  mind  visions  of  Norse  gods  flying  through 

140 


Sintamaskin 

the  winter  sky  —  skin-clad  and  with  black 
wings  upon  their  heads. 

Then  the  ground  lifted  again,  the  birches 
and  moosewood  reappeared,  the  forest  was 
more  open  and  more  varied,  the  ground  rough 
and  broken.  And  so,  now  on  rocky  hard- 
wood ridges,  again  through  sombre  swamps  of 
evergreens,  went  our  way,  nearly  three  miles 
in  all,  until  at  last  a  sudden  downward  slope 
brought  us  to  the  border  of  a  little  lake.  We 
crossed  first  this,  and  next  a  narrow  strip  of 
spruce-grown  land,  and  we  had  reached  Lac 
Clair. 

This  is  a  large,  open  lake,  with  fine  woods 
about  it,  and  some  picturesque  low  cliffs  along 
its  eastern  shore,  but  not  on  the  whole  a  very 
interesting  spot.  We  crossed  it  in  a  north- 
easterly direction,  two  miles,  carefully  scan- 
ning its  unbroken  white  stretch  for  signs  of 
game.  We  found  nothing  but  the  record  of  a 
little  woodland  tragedy :  the  footprints  of  a 
hare  bound  across  the  lake,  at  first  near  to- 
gether, then  suddenly  far  apart  as  he  had 
leaped  for  his  life ;  approaching,  at  an  angle, 
other  tracks,  those  of  a  marten ;  then  the  two 
mingled,  a  disturbed  place  in  the  snow,  drops 

of  blood ;  and  last,  the  tracks  of  the  marten 

141 


/ 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

back  to  the  shore,  partly  obliterated  by  the 
wide  trail  of  the  object  he  had  dragged  along. 
Off  the  lake  and  another  climb,  stiff  as  the 
first,  but  shorter,  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
through  heavy  forest,  and  then  Lac  Long,  head 
of  the  waters  we  had  followed.  As  its  name 
implies,  it  is  a  long  and  narrow  lake,  through 
which  we  passed,  and  here  we  saw  tracks  of 
caribou — made  before  yesterday's  snow,  how- 
ever, so  that  they  were  not  of  great  interest  to 
us.  Another  short  stretch  of  woodland,  and 
we  came  to  Lac  aux  Truites.  This  was  Sinta- 
maskin  water,  and  here  for  the  first  time  we 
saw  the  pine  in  any  quantity.  Opposite  us, 
about  half  a  mile  away,  the  eastern  shore  rose 
abruptly  in  a  bold  cliff,  and  upon  its  brow  and 
on  every  ledge  and  projection  of  its  face  the 
pines  stood  in  rows,  their  green  plumes  clear 
and  beautiful  against  the  blue  of  a  cloudless 
sky.  The  cliff  extended  to  the  north,  past  the 
lake,  and  formed  one  wall  of  a  ravine  through 
which  the  outlet  flowed ;  down  this  we  went 
toward  the  object  of  our  journey,  a  mile 
away — down  a  short  way,  then  along  a  level 
stretch.  The  forest  was  heavy — here  and 
there  a  big  pine,  many  tall  spruces,  and  mas- 
sive, splendid  gray  birches,  whose  rough  bark, 

143 


I 


^intamaskin 

always  full  of  color,  was  now,  against  the 
snow,  of  intense  vividness  of  rose  and  violet. 
Then  the  last  slope  downward,  rough  and 
rocky,  and  here  stood  the  trees  which  are,  to 
my  mind,  perhaps  the  greatest  glory  of  Sinta- 
maskin — white  birches.  Not  the  slender  sap- 
lings of  our  local  woods,  but  magnificent  great 
fellows,  two  feet  in  diameter,  their  wonderful 
bark  curling  in  scrolls  where,  in  its  exuber- 
ance, it  had  peeled  away ;  silvery  white  in 
summer — or  now  against  the  blue  sky;  by 
contrast  with  the  snow,  they  were  salmon  and 
golden,  their  color  intensified  by  the  lumps  of 
snow  jwled  up  on  every  projecting  edge  of 
bark  They  grew  even  to  the  shore,  where 
they  mingled  with  the  cedars,  whose  feathery 
branches  overhang  the  clear  green  water  in 
summer-time,  but  whose  lower  limbs  were  now 
buried  beneath  the  sloping  snow. 

We  came  out  upon  a  long  and  narrow  bay, 
the  southwestern  corner  of  the  lake.  On  the 
left  was  a  ridge  covered  with  spruce  and  hard 
wood ;  on  the  right  a  high  and  precipitous 
wall  of  cliff  and  tumbled  masses  of  granite, 
upon  which  rose  ranks  of  the  sombre-hued  and 
rigid  spruce  and  fir,  and  high  above  all  the 
graceful  forms  and  lighter  green  of  the  pines. 

M3 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

In  single  file  we  advanced — Pierre  ahead, 
then  I,  George  next,  and  Peter  bringing  up 
the  rear — and  as  we  neared  the  mouth  of  the 
bay  the  great  expanse  of  white  opened  before 
us  ;  we  saw  that  its  farther  shores  were  thickly 
wooded  and  the  hills  not  very  high  to  the 
east,  for  the  lake  lies  well  up  at  their  tops. 
In  front  of  us  was  an  island,  five  hundred 
yards  away  ;  to  the  north,  others.  They  were 
rocky,  fringed  with  cedar,  and  above  these, 
again,  were  the  birch  and  pine. 

Further  examination  of  the  scenery  was  cut 
short ;  for  as  we  reached  the  open  and  turned 
northward  along  the  western  shore,  Pierre 
Joseph  and  I,  who  were  somewhat  ahead  of 
the  others,  saw  what  brought  us  to  a  halt, 
namely,  fresh  tracks.  They  led  across  our 
path  straight  for  the  nearest  island.  The 
caribou  were  not  long  gone,  and  we  instinct- 
ively lowered  our  voices  to  a  whisper  as  we 
discussed  the  probability  of  their  being  behind 
the  island.  But  no  ;  as  I  looked  ahead  again 
I  saw  another  line  across  the  snow.  We  ad- 
vanced ;  these  tracks  led  back  from  the  island 
to  the  shore,  and  were  so  fresh  that  at  the 
bottom  of  each  deep  hoof-print  the  water 
which  overlay  the  ice  under  the  heavy  snow 

144 


> 


Sintamaskin 

was  not  yet  frozen — a  significant  fact  with  the 
temperature  still  well  below  the  zero  point. 
There  was  no  whispering  now  ;  we  raised  our 
eyes  to  the  shore,  which  was  in  shade  and 
fringed  with  a  dense  growth  of  cedars.  Too 
bad — they  had  gone  up  into  the  woods ;  it 
was  past  midday,  and  too  late  to  follow  them 
far ;  if  we  had  only  got  here  a  little  sooner ! 
But  hold  on  !  What's  that  ?  In  the  gloom 
of  the  dark  cedars  I  saw  a  dim  gray  shape, 
motionless ;  then  another.  And  now  I  real- 
ized that  I  had  done  a  foolish  thing,  one  that 
some  years  of  experience  should  have  taught 
me  to  avoid :  I  had  left  the  cover  on  my  rifle. 
Slowly  and  cautiously  I  drew  it  off,  not  daring 
to  make  a  sudden  movement,  but  breathless 
with  the  fear  that  the  game  might  start ;  for 
one  jump  into  the  bush  and  the  only  chance 
would  be  gone.  My  heart  was  beating  so 
that  I  wondered  if  the  caribou  would  not  hear 
it,  when  just  as  I  got  the  rifle  free  they 
started — not  two  of  them,  but  three,  and  rot 
into  the  woods,  but  straight  across  us  out  over 
the  lake,  about  a  hundred  yards  away.  They 
were  running,  and  with  a  swiftness  that  de- 
manded quick  shooting,  and  that  was  surpris- 
ing in  snow  which,  though  less  deep  here  than 

145 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


in  the  timber,  still  was  such  that  a  man  would 
be  practically  helpless  in  it  without  snow- 
shoes.  They  sank  so  deep  that  as  they 
ploughed  ahead  the  movement  of  their  legs 
could  hardly  be  seen,  but  was  more  than  sug- 
gested by  the  flying  lumps  and  clouds  of  snow 
that  rose  about  them.  Their  thick-set  bodies 
loomed  large  and  dark  against  the  dazzling 
surface  beyond  them,  and  contrasted  sharply 
with  their  long  hoary  manes.  I  sighted  on 
the  leader  and  fired,  and  as  I  saw  him  stagger 
perceptibly  I  heard  another  shot.  George 
had  come  up  and  was  beside  me,  opening  fire 
on  the  second.  I  kept  on  at  the  first  one, 
shooting  as  long  as  he  moved ;  but  at  the 
third  shot  he  pitched  forward  and  lay  in  the 
snow.  Then  as  I  turned  my  head  I  saw 
George's  beast  sinking,  and  we  both  fired 
almost  together  at  the  third,  now  a  good 
long  shot,  but  after  another  volley  down  he 
went,  too.  Luck,  pure  and  simple,  after  all ; 
but  then  we  had  expended  considerable  skill 
during  the  past  week  with  little  to  show  for 
it,  and  this  we  considered  our  fairly  earned 
reward.  Then  we  made  the  tour  of  our 
quarry — three  bulls.      No  coup  de  grdce  was 

needed;    they   were    stone-dead.      They  lay 

146 


/ 


Sintamaskin 

upon  their  sides,  with  heads  outstretched,  and 
the  tumbled  snow  covering  up  their  heavy 
powerful  legs  and  big  round  black  hoofs, 
which  carry  them  abroad  when  all  other  deer 
are  fast  bound  by  impassable  barriers  of 
snow.  Their  sleek  sides  glistened  in  the  sun- 
shine, and  we  saw  the  color  of  their  bodies — a 
hue  the  exactest  balance  between  brown  and 
gray;  an  absolute  neutral,  which,  with  their 
white  heads  and  long-haired  gray  throats, 
makes  them  seem  of  the  very  essence  of  the 
northern  forest  and  the  winter  rime. 

Our  guides  began  at  once  to  busy  them- 
selves with  the  preparations  for  luncheon, 
always  to  me  one  of  the  most  interesting 
episodes  of  a  winter  day's  journey.  The  foot 
of  a  bold  rock  on  the  shore  was  selected  as  a 
suitable  place  against  which  to  build  the  fire ; 
the  snow  about  it  tramped  down  to  make  it 
more  firm.  The  men  drew  little  axes,  shaped 
like  tomahawks,  from  the  sashes  wound  about 
their  waists  :  one  of  them  attacked  a  dry  dead 
tree  which  stood  near  by,  his  unerring  strokes 
ringing  clear  and  sharp  on  the  still  air ;  the 
other  vanished  within  the  woods,  where  he 
selected  a  fir-balsam  and  cut  it  down.  We 
heard  the  crashing  as  it  fell,  and  saw  a  cloud 

147 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

of  snow-dust  rise  among  the  trees.  Presently 
he  reappeared,  bearing  upon  his  shoulder  a 
length  of  the  trunk,  which  he  threw  upon  the 
snow  before  the  rock ;  then  away  again,  to 
return  with  a  great  load  of  thick  green 
branches,  which  he  piled  upon  the  log.  This 
was  to  be  our  seat.  Then  he  turned  to  help 
his  comrade,  who  was  chopping  up  the  dry 
wood  of  the  dead  tree.  They  brought  loads 
of  this ;  it  was  built  up  against  the  rock ; 
strips  of  fat  bark  were  torn  from  a  birch  and 
thrust  under  and  among  the  sticks,  the  match 
was  applied,  and  in  a  moment  the  crackling 
flames  were  shedding  a  heat  more  than  grate- 
ful to  him  who,  warm  and  a  little  tired  with 
the  toil  of  long  and  heavy  tramping,  soon  had 
begun  to  chill  under  inaction  in  the  keen 
cold.  Meanwhile,  one  of  our  Indians  had 
taken  the  tin  pail  and  gone  out  a  way  upon 
the  lake.  He  took  off  one  of  his  snow-shoes, 
and  used  it  as  a  spade  to  dig  a  hole  in  the 
snow ;  at  the  bottom  he  found  slush,  through 
which  he  broke  with  a  few  blows  of  the  head 
of  his  axe.  Below  again  was  water,  a  few 
inches  deep,  and  under  that  the  ice.  He 
dipped  his  pail  full  and  returned  to  the  fire. 

A  green  pole  was  driven  into  the  snow,  and 

148 


Sintamaskin 


from  the  end  of  it  the  pail  of  water  was  hung 
over  the  flames.  This  was  to  make  the  tea, 
universal  comfort  and  mainstay  of  the  so- 
journer in  the  wilderness.  The  tin  cups  and 
plates  were  spread  upon  the  green  boughs ;  a 
plate  of  cold  bacon  and  pork  was  set  near  the 
fire  to  warm ;  a  loaf  of  bread  was  cut  into 
generous  slices,  which  were  toasted  at  the 
flames  upon  the  ends  of  sharpened  sticks; 
and  in  an  incredibly  short  time  since  it  was 
beginning  to  seem  that  this  was  a  pretty 
bleak  place  after  all,  we  were  basking  in  the 
warmth  of  a  roaring  fire,  and  partaking  heart- 
ily of  hot  drink  and  smoking  food.  Then 
pipes,  lit  with  hot  coals,  were  never  better, 
and  at  last  we  rose,  strengthened  and  re- 
freshed, ready  to  set  out  upon  the  long  tramp 
home,  more  than  ten  miles  away.  It  would 
be  long  past  nightfall  before  we  reached  it; 
but  the  hills  on  our  homeward  trail  sloped 
downward,  the  moon  would  be  high  in  a 
cloudless  heaven,  and  though  weary  we  should 
be  happy :  so  the  rapidly  lengthening  sha- 
dows gave  us  no  uneasiness  as  we  turned  our 
faces  away  from  Sintamaskin. 
When  next  I  came  it  was  in  the  blue  and 

golden  haze  of  a  sunny  September  afternoon. 

149 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

We  had  toiled  slowly  up  the  long  portage 
from  the  St.  Maurice,  three  miles  of  continu- 
ous steep  ascent,  the  men  and  I  heavily  laden ; 
we  had  reached  the  lake,  and  the  men  had 
returned  for  another  load.  I  agreed  to  meet 
them  at  the  portage  on  the  farther  shore,  and 
then  we  two,  my  wife  and  I,  embarked  in  a 
tiny  birch  canoe.  We  were  in  a  little  land- 
locked bay,  so  closed  at  the  farther  end  by 
narrows  as  to  seem  a  pond ;  beyond  them  it 
opened  out  again,  and  again  narrows  ap- 
peared beyond ;  thence  we  passed  by  deep 
winding  channels  among  many  islands  which 
border  the  eastern  shore.  The  water  was 
crystal -clear  and  green  ;  the  rocks  were  mot- 
tled with  lichens  and  carpeted  with  velvet 
moss,  emerald-green,  white,  and  crimson ;  the 
cedars  curved  their  aromatic  boughs  over  the 
limpid  depths ;  against  their  deep  green  the 
scarlet  berries  of  the  mountain-ash  blazed  in 
the  sun,  and  among  them  stood  the  silvery 
stems  of  giant  birches,  their  exquisite  tops 
shimmering  green  and  gold  against  the  blue 
of  the  sky.  And  above  all,  upon  every  little 
island  and  over  all  the  hills,  rose  the  stately 
pines,   in  whose  topmost  branches  the  soft 

west  wind  sang  the  song  it  sings  to  all  upon 

150 


I 


Sintamaskin 

whom  the  wilderness  has  laid  its  spell,  calling 
upon  us  to  return  again,  with  a  voice  that 
can  never  be  long  denied. 

To  many  this  is  a  fine,  large  lake,  well 
wooded,  but  in  which  unfortunately  there  are 
no  fish  ;  to  a  few  of  us  Sintamaskin  is  a  fairy- 
land. 

C.  Grant  La  Farge. 


\%x 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 


.  The  dog  is  usually  regarded  as  the  most 
intelligent  of  quadrupeds.  Perhaps  we  think 
him  so  because  we  see  more  of  him  than  we 
do  of  any  other  domestic  animal,  and  perhaps 
a  part  of  his  intelligence  is  derived  from  his 
long  association  with  man ;  but  at  all  events  it 
is  very  great  by  comparison  with  that  of  the 
other  animals  which  we  know. 

Wolves  are  only  wild  dogs,  and  their  intel- 
ligence should  be  of  a  high  order.  That  it  is 
so,  all  who  have  had  much  opportunity  for 
observation  are  agreed.  The  Indian  recog- 
nizes the  wolf  as  the  embodiment  of  craft  and 
smartness,  as  is  shown  by  the  name  for  scout 
in  the  Indian  sign  language.  He  also  regards 
the  wolf  as  a  friend,  and  among  some  tribes 
there  are  people  who  claim  to  understand  the 
language  of  the  wolves,  and  to  hold  communi- 
cation with  them,  receiving  friendly  warning 
of  the  approach  of  danger.     From  the  hilltop, 

the  wolf  barks  at  the  Indian  hunter  as  he 

152 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

passes  along,  and  the  hunter  calls  back  a 
cheery  greeting  in  his  own  tongue.  The 
white  hunter  acknowledges  the  wolf's  intelli- 
gence, and  is  divided  between  his  admiration 
for  it  and  his  hatred  of  the  animal  for  the 
harm  it  does. 

As  a  rule  the  gray  wolf  is  regarded  as  less 
intelligent  than  the  little  coyote,  whose  smart- 
ness, however,  almost  makes  up  for  his  lack 
of  size. 

In  discussing  wild  animals,  we  are  all  very 
much  disposed  to  consider  the  species  as  a 
whole,  and  to  deal  in  general  terms,  jum.ping 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  the  individuals  of  a 
kind  are  exactly  alike,  and  not  taking  into 
account  the  marked  variation  between  dif- 
ferent individuals,  for  we  consider  only  their 
physical  aspect  We  forget  that  to  each  in- 
dividual of  the  species  there  is  a  psycholog- 
ical side ;  that  these  animals  have  intelligence, 
reason,  mind,  and  that  at  different  times  they 
are  governed  by  varying  motives  and  emo- 
tions, which  differ  in  degree  only  from  those 
which  influence  us. 

Yet  if  we  stop  and  think,  we  realize  that 
important  physical  differences  exist  between 
individuals  within  the  same  species ;  that  some 

153 


; 


Trail  and  Camp«Fire 

are  stronger,  swifter,  more  enduring  than 
others.  If,  then,  their  physical  qualities  vary, 
as  we  know  they  do,  it  is  only  logical  to 
conclude  that  mental  differences  may  also 
exist  between  different  individuals.  Concern- 
ing these  mental  differences  we  are  much  in 
the  dark,  yet  in  the  horses  that  we  ride  and 
in  the  dogs  that  we  have  for  our  companions, 
we  recognize  such  individuality.  If  this  exists 
among  domestic  animals,  we  may  be  certain 
that  it  does  so  among  the  wild  ones. 

We  may  feel  sure  that  on  them,  as  on 
all  other  animals,  two  principal  motives — the 
desire  for  food  and  the  desire  to  escape  from 
their  enemies — act  at  all  times ;  but  besides 
these,  they  have  other  impulses  of  which  we 
scarcely  ever  think.  As  one  of  these,  the 
hunter  recognizes  curiosity,  which  he  con- 
stantly observes,  and  which  frequently  proves 
fatal,  even  to  those  animals  which  are  the 
most  wary  and  the  best  able  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  Playfulness  is  always  manifested 
by  the  young,  and  often  even  by  old  mammals, 
and  is  shown  also  in  the  habit  common  to  many 
a  carnivorous  animal,  which  disables  its  prey, 
and  then  lets  it  run  off,  well  knowing  that  it 
can  easily  catch  it  again ;  or  in  the  case  where 

154 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 


a  coyote  teases  a  badger  to  the  point  of  fury, 
just  as  a  small  boy  may  tease  his  smaller  fel- 
lows until  they  roar  with  rage.  The  sexual 
motive  is  overpowering  at  certain  seasons. 
Pride  and  revenge  and  grief  no  doubt  are  felt. 
Love  of  approbation,  which  is  well  known  to 
exist  in  domestic  animals,  no  doubt  does  so 
also  in  the  wild.  Self-sacrifice  is  practiced  by 
the  mother,  who  starves  that  her  young  may 
feed.  In  fact,  it  is  altogether  probable  that 
the  higher  wild  animals  are  influenced  by  a 
vast  number  of  just  those  motives  which  influ- 
ence savage  man. 

Familiar  as  this  subject  should  be  to  all,  it 
is  yet  one  about  which  we  think  too  little. 
Among  the  many  essays  which  have  been 
written  about  it,  none  is  more  interesting  or 
more  to  the  point  than  that  given  by  Darwin 
in  chapters  III.  and  IV.  of  the  "Descent  of 
Man." 

One  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  the  intel- 
ligence of  wolves  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  they, 
perhaps  alone  of  all  wild  animals,  at  certain 
times  so  far  surrender  their  own  individuality 
as  to  combine  to  help  each  other  for  the  com- 
mon good.  The  mere  fact  that  wolves  hunt 
in  packs  is  not  in  itself  evidence  of  the  power 

155 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

of  organization,  but  that  they  hunt  together 
by  relays,  one  relieving  another,  does  show  an 
ability  to  correlate  cause  and  effect,  which 
comes  surprisingly  near  to  what  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  call  human  intelligence.  I  believe 
that  this  organizing  faculty  is  occasionally  seen 
in  the  gray  wolf,  and  constantly  in  the  coyote. 


THE   GRAY   WOLF 

The  range  of  the  large  wolf  of  America  ex- 
tended east  and  west  from  ocean  to  ocean, 
and  from  the  farthest  barren  grounds  of  the 
Arctic  circle  south  to  the  tierra  caliente  of 
Mexico.  Whether  the  American  wolf  known 
as  big,  gray,  timber,  buffalo,  lobo,  or  loafer 
wolf  is  the  same  with  the  wolf  of  northern 
Europe,  and  whether  or  not  the  big  wolf  of 
America  to-day  is  to  be  divided  into  sub- 
species, is  a  question  on  which  I  believe  the 
naturalists  are  not  altogether  agreed.  But  for 
the  purpose  of  this  article,  the  large  wolf  may 
be  considered  as  one  species  wherever  it  is 
found  in  America. 

Over  the  greater  portion  of  its  range  this  wolf 
is  gray  in  color,  but  in  the  Arctic  regions,  and 
occasionally  in  the  Northwest,  it  is  white  or 
nearly  so,  while  in  Florida  and  some  of  the 

156 


f 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

Gulf  States,  and  in  British  Columbia,  it  ifi 
black.  In  Texas  there  are  red  or  bay  wolviis. 
The  hair  of  the  black  wolves  which  !  have 
seen  from  British  Columbia  was  not  wholly 
black,  though  the  color  of  the  hide  was  so. 
By  parting  the  fur  it  could  be  seen  that  near 
the  skin  the  hair  was  dark  gray,  and  that  only 
the  tips  were  black.  In  the  same  way,  many 
of  the  gray  wolves  of  the  West  have  the  under 
coat  pure  white,  but  the  long  hairs  being 
black  tipped  the  whole  effect  is  gray. 

More  or  less  difference  in  habit,  caused  by 
conditions  of  its  environment,  is  found  in 
this  species.  The  wolves  of  the  North  live 
to  a  considerable  extent  on  reindeer  and  cari- 
bou ;  those  of  the  East  on  deer,  while  those  of 
the  South  prey  largely  on  deer  and  on  the 
wild  hogs  which  run  at  large  through  the  pine 
forests  and  swamns.  Years  ac  o,  the  center  of 
abundance  of  the  gray  wolf  in  America  cor- 
responded very  closely  with  the  centre  of 
abundance  of  the  buffalo.  Great  numbers  of 
these  always  hungry  animals  accompanied  the 
buffalo  herds,  killing  calves  or  old  bulls,  and 
sometimes  cutting  out  from  the  herd  strong 
young  heifers,  which  they  had  little  difficulty 
in  pulling  down  if  once  they  could  separate 

157 


rs 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

them  from  the  companionship  of  their  fellows. 

In  the  eastern  United  States  the  wolf  is 
almost  extinct,  but  in  the  unsettled  parts  of 
Canada  it  is  still  to  be  found  in  considerable 
abundance.  In  1893,  and  again  in  1895,  wolves 
were  killed  in  the  Adirondacks,  but  I  know  of 
no  authenticated  recent  capture  of  this  species 
in  Maine.  In  1895  a  litter  of  wolf  cubs  was 
reported  to  have  been  killed  not  far  from  Jer- 
seyville,  III,  the  mother  having  been  seen  in 
that  n'iighborhood  several  times  in  previous 
years.  In  the  Southern  States,  in  sparsely 
settled  districts  near  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
wolves  are  said  to  be  even  now  not  very  un- 
common, and  within  a  few  years  past  several 
have  been  seen  in  the  wilder  and  more  moun- 
tainous portions  of  Tennessee. 

It  is  not  until  the  Missouri  River  is  crossed, 
however,  that  the  wolf  occurs  in  any  abund- 
ance; but  when  the  cattle  country  is  reached 
they  are  found  to  be  more  or  less  numerous, 
though  they  do  not  increase  nearly  so  fast  as 
does  the  coyote.  At  the  same  time  in  many 
sections  of  Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado  and 
Texas,  they  are  numerous  enough  to  cause 
very  serious  loss  to  the  stockmen. 

Notwithstanding  the   fact   that  ever  since 

158 


i^p^ 


^fmi^ 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

the  settlement  of  America  the  wolf  has  been 
pursued  with  guns,  traps  and  poison,  it  is 
certain  that  no  blow  ever  befel  the  race  so 
severe  as  the  extermination  of  the  buffalo. 
Their  natural  prey  gone,  the  wolves  also  in 
great  measure  disappeared.  Probably  they 
scattered  out  in  search  of  food,  and  starved  in 
great  numbers.  Those  that  survived  were 
then  forced  to  turn  their  attention  to  the 
herds  of  the  stockmen,  which  furnished  them 
an  easy  prey.  They  began  to  increase,  and 
for  years  their  depredations  have  resulted  in 
very  heavy  loss  to  raisers  of  horses  and  cattle 
on  the  Northern  plains. 

As  a  rule,  they  do  not  attack  the  herds 
when  alarmed  and  closely  bunched  together ; 
but,  prowling  around  the  outskirts,  they  try 
to  cut  off  the  young  stock,  which  is  most 
easily  killed.  Sometimes,  however,  a  small 
bunch  of  wolves  may  round  up  a  little  bunch 
of  cattle,  which  stand  in  a  close  circle,  their 
heads  outward,  prepared  for  the  attack.  After 
circling  about  them  for  a  short  time,  two  or 
three  wolves  will  dash  at  the  bunch,  and  if 
they  can  scatter  the  animals,  it  is  the  work 
of  an  instant  only  to  pull  down  a  yearling  or 
kill  two  or  three  calves.     Sometimes  a  single 

159 


f 


T 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

wolf,  if  it  finds  a  two-year-old  by  itself,  will 
run  it  down,  and  often  by  a  single  bite  will 
kill  it,  or  so  disable  it  that  its  destruction  is 
sure.  Within  the  year  I  have  come  upon  a 
two-year-old  heifer  killed  in  this  way,  by  a 
single  wolf — as  the  tracks  in  the  snow 
showed — and  by  a  single  bite  in  the  flank. 
There  was  more  or  less  foam  and  saliva  on 
the  heifer's  lips,  and  on  the  side  of  her  neck 
and  shoulders,  showing  that  she  had  been 
chased  some  distance.  When  I  rode  up  to 
the  carcass  it  had  been  just  killed,  and  was 
still  bleeding  and  perfectly  warm. 

In  the  days  of  the  buffalo,  wolfing  was  a 
recognized  industry,  and  one  which  was  profit- 
ably followed.  The  method  was  simple.  In 
winter,  when  the  wolf  skins  were  prime  and 
when  wolves  were  sure  to  be  hungry,  small 
parties  of  wolfers  went  to  the  buffalo  range, 
and  killed  buffalo,  which  they  poisoned  with 
strychnine.  This  was  usually  not  done  until 
the  cold  weather  had  come  and  the  ground 
was  frozen,  or,  perhaps,  covered  with  snow. 
The  carcass  of  the  buffalo  used  for  bait  was 
partly  skinned,  and  then  split,  and  more  or 
less  strychnine  was  placed  in  the  visceral 
cavity,  and  mixed  up  there  with  entrails  and 

1 60 


will 
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m  is 
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now 
ank. 
I  on 
neck 
Deen 
p  to 
was 

as  a 

rofit- 

In 

and 
mall 
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with 
until 
Dund 
now. 

was 
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and 


) 


I 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

blood,  and  into  this  strips  of  the  meat  were 
thrown.  The  remaining  meat  of  the  carcass 
was  then  thoroughly  poisoned  by  scattering 
the  strychnine  over  it,  and  this  might  even  be 
rubbed  into  the  flesh  along  with  the  warm 
blood  taken  from  the  hollow  of  the  ribs. 
Often,  while  this  was  being  done,  the  wolfer 
would  be  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  ten  or 
a  dozen  or  more  wolves,  waiting  patiently 
for  him  to  complete  his  operations  and  go 
away,  so  that  their  meal  might  begin.  In 
those  days  wolves  had  no  fear  of  man.  They 
were  very  seldom  shot  at,  and  knew  of  the 
gun  chiefly  as  an  implement  to  call  them  to  a 
feast. 

It  was  remarkable  to  see  how  quickly  the 
wolves  stripped  the  meat  from  the  carcass  of 
a  bujffalo ;  and  the  same  thing,  but  in  a  less 
degree,  can  be  seen  to-day  if  a  small  bunch  of 
wolves  kill  a  range  animal. 

Facts  bearing  on  these  points  are  gi^'v^a  by 
Joseph  Kipp,  an  educated  and  thoroughly 
reliable  Mandan  half-breed,  now  nearly  fifty 
years  old,  who  was  born  and  reared  on  the 
Missouri.  In  an  interview  quoted  by  Mr. 
J.  W.  Schultz  in  Forest  and  Stream^  Mr.  Kipp 
recently  said: 

l6l 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

"In  the  fall  of  1864  the  American  Fur 
Company,  at  Fort  Benton,  sent  me  with  a 
stock  of  trade  goods  to  winter  with  the  Pie- 
gans,  who  were  camped  on  the  Marias  River. 
Early  in  February  a  man  was  sent  out  to 
assist  me,  and  I  lost  no  time  in  going  on  a 
hunt  with  the  Indians,  for  I  had  been  cooped 
up  in  a  lodge  all  winter  and  wanted  a  change. 

"  One  day  we  ran  a  large  herd  of  buffalo, 
which  we  found  a  mile  or  two  north  of  where 
Cutbank  Stream  joins  the  Marias.  I  had  a 
splendid  horse,  but  as  soon  as  I  killed  a  cow  I 
stopped,  for  that  was  all  the  meat  I  wanted, 
and  more  too.  I  had  reached  the  herd  some 
time  before  the  Indians  did,  and  when  they 
saw  me  dismount  one  of  them  asked  me  to 
exchange  horses  with  him,  as  he  wanted  to 
make  a  big  killing.  !  let  him  have  it,  and 
tying  his  horse  to  the  horns  of  the  buffalo,  I 
proceeded  to  skin  it.  In  less  than  five  min- 
utes the  wolves  began  to  gather  about  me.  It 
was  the  running  season,  and  each  bitch  v^as 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  dog  wolves  play- 
ing and  fawning  about  her,  and  quarreling 
with  each  other  just  like  a  lot  of  dogs.  The 
wolves  kept  about  fifty  to  sixty  yards  from 

me,  but  one  coyote  came  up  quite  close,  and  a 

162 


/ 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

couple  of  kit  foxes  ventured  up  within  eight 
or  ten  feet.  I  felt  a  little  uneasy  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  such  a  big  pack,  and  considered 
for  some  time  whether  to  fire  at  them  or  not. 
I  had  only  four  balls  left  and  rather  wanted  to 
keep  them.  Finally,  however,  I  did  shoot  at 
a  big  white  wolf,  and  not  only  killed  him,  but 
another  one  beyond.  The  rest  of  them,  how- 
ever, didn't  pay  any  attention.  Well,  I  only 
took  the  depouille  and  bossribs  of  the  cow, 
and  tying  them  on  behind  my  saddle,  I  rode 
off  about  fifty  yards.  The  wolves  immediately 
ran  up  to  the  carcass,  and  such  a  snapping 
and  clicking  of  teeth  you  never  heard.  In  a 
very  few  minutes  the  cow  was  eaten  up,  and 
the  bare  bones  were  dragged  and  scattered 
about.  The  wolves,  as  soon  as  the  carcass 
began  to  be  fairly  well  picked,  commenced 
striking  out  toward  the  northeast,  and  finally 
all  of  them  went  off  in  that  direction,  leaving 
only  the  kit  foxes  to  keep  me  company.  I  cut 
off  several  bits  of  meat  from  the  ribs  tied  to 
my  saddle,  and  they  would  pounce  on  them 
almost  before  they  struck  the  ground. 

"In  the  old  times  wolves  were  much  more 
numerous  than  coyotes,  and  to-day  the  condi- 
tions are  directly  the  reverse.     If  wolves  are 

163 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

so  much  sharper  and  more  difficult  to  catch 
than  coyotes,  as  some  people  say,  how  does  it 
happen  that  they  are  very  scarce  in  the  whole 
West,  while  coyotes  seem  to  be  more  numer- 
ous than  they  were  in  the  old  times?" 

Conditions  have  changed  for  the  wolf.  In 
early  days  he  was  disregarded,  but  now  a  very 
large  class  of  people  in  the  West  take  an 
active  interest  in  wolves.  As  these  animals 
began  to  be  troublesome,  and  to  prey  on  the 
stock  of  the  cattlemen,  people  who  had  heard 
of  the  old-time  industry  of  wolfing  took  to 
poisoning  them,  since,  as  a  rule,  the  work  of 
trapping  them  called  for  more  patience  and 
skill  than  the  average  ranchman  possessed, 
and  they  were  too  wary  to  be  shot.  At  last, 
however,  the  wolves  refused  to  take  the 
poison;  refused  to  eat  any  meat,  in  fact,  ex- 
cept a  carcass  freshly  killed  by  themselves. 
This,  of  course,  put  an  end  to  the  poisoning, 
and  recourse  was  had  again  to  steel  traps. 
With  these,  trappers  have  had  some  success. 
I  know  of  a  case  last  winter  where  six  wolves 
were  trapped  in  a  very  limited  area,  and,  curi- 
ously enough,  all  of  these  were  she  wolves. 
After  people  had  become  discouraged  with 

their  lack  of  success   in   poisoning,   a  great 

164 


f 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

many  greyhounds  and  staghounds  were  taken 
into  the  West,  and  efforts  were  made  to  use 
these  to  kill  off  the  wolves  on  the  ranges. 
No  doubt  many  wolves  have  been  killed  in 
this  way,  as  it  is  certain  that  many  coyotes 
have,  but  this  method  of  hunting,  while  an 
exhilarating  sport,  is  inefficient  as  a  means  of 
exterminating  the  wolves.  In  a  level  country 
where  the  ground  is  good,  dogs  can  overtake 
and  kill  wolves;  but  they  must  be  very  swift 
animals,  regularly  trained  to  the  work,  and 
there  must  be  two  or  three  at  least  to  each 
wolf.  I  heard  not  long  ago  of  a  man  who 
started  two  wolf-hounds  after  a  bunch  of  six 
gray  wolves,  in  a  rough  country.  The  dogs 
easily  overtook  the  wolves,  which  then  turned 
on  them,  and  simply  ate  them  up.  In  a 
rough  country  dogs  can  accomplish  but  little 
against  the  wolves,  because  they  become  foot- 
sore and  hurt  themselves  against  the  stones, 
and  can  no  longer  overtake  the  wolves.  I 
never  heard  of  a  wolf  becoming  footsore  or 
hurting  himself  among  the  rocks. 

In  the  old  buffalo  days  it  was,  of  course,  an 
every-day  matter  for  a  man  who  was  traveling 
over  the  prairie  to  meet  little  bunches  of  five 
or  six  or  a  dozen  wolves  strung  out,  traveling 

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Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

one  after  another  from  place  to  place.     These 

seldom  regarded  the  man  i  ay  more  than  he 

did  them.     Occasionally  one  might  ride  down 

into  a  ravine,  and  almost  over  a  wolf  lying 

asleep  in  some  sunny  spot  or  under  a  bush. 

It  would  spring  to  its  feet  in   great  alarm, 

make  a  half  dozen  wild  jumps  to  some  high 

point,  and  stop  for  a  look,  and  then,  seeing 

that  it  was  only  a  man,  would  continue  to 

gaze,  and   at  last   trot  unconcernedly  away. 

Nowadays  it  is  rather  unusual  for  any  one 

to  see  a  wolf,  and  in  recent  times  few  men 

have  had  such  an  experience  as  happened  to 

an  acquaintance  of  mine,  who,  one  morning  in 

April,  1897,  stepped  out  of  the  cabin  to  look 

about,  when  a  big  gray  wolf  came  around  the 

corner  of  the  house  within  fifteen  feet  of  him. 

Man  and  wolf  were  both  astonished,  and  the 

man  jumped  into  the  house  to  get  his  gun, 

while  the  wolf  ran  to  the  top  of  a  knoll  about 

two  hundred  yards  away,  and  halted.    When 

it  stopped  the  man  shot,  the  ball  entering  the 

right  ham,  ranging  through   the   body,  and 

smashing   the   left  shoulder.     The  wolf  fell, 

sprang  to  its  feet  again,  and  ran  around  in  a 

STrall  circle,  biting  at  the  point  where  the  ball 

had  hit  it,  while  it   yelled  dismally,  and  so 

166 


; 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

loudly  that  it  was  heard  at  the  next  cabin, 
about  two  miles  distant.  The  man  cheered  the 
ranch  dog  at  the  wolf,  and  jumped  into  the 
house  again  to  put  on  his  boots,  for  he  had  just 
(rotten  out  of  bed.  By  the  time  he  had  them 
on,  and  had  started  for  the  wolf,  the  dog  came 
back  with  his  face,  breast  and  shoulders  badly 
cut,  though  the  wolf  had  seemingly  made  only 
two  or  three  snaps  at  him.  The  man  fol- 
lowed the  wolf  along  the  mountain  side,  over 
snowbanks,  and  up  and  down  the  sides  of 
gulches  for  two  miles,  before  he  overtook  it 
or  could  get  a  shot  at  it.  All  the  time  the 
animal  was  bleeding  so  freely  that  there  was 
no  difficulty  in  following  the  trail.  When  he 
came  to  it,  it  was  too  weak  to  go  further,  and 
he  was  able  to  finish  it  with  stones. 

In  old  times,  the  wolf  in  the  buffalo  range 
lived  almost  exclusively  on  the  flesh  of  that 
animal,  devouring  the  remains  of  those  killed 
by  the  Indian  or  white  hunters,  and  also  those 
which  perished  by  drowning,  and  by  being 
mired  in  crossing  streams.  About  the  traps 
or  "pounds,"  which  were  used  by  the  Indians 
to  catch  buffalo,  wolves  were  always  abund- 
ant and  fed  upon  the  carcasses  and  remains 

left  in  the  trap  over  night.     If  a  band  of  buf- 

167 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

falo  were  driven  in  toward  evening,  and  the 
butchering  was  not  finished  that  day,  the 
wolves  were  sure  to  spoil  whatever  meat  was 
left  there  during  the  night.  It  was,  therefore, 
a  common  practice  for  the  Indians  to  set 
snares  in  the  openings  of  the  fence  which  in- 
closed the  buffalo  corral,  and  in  this  way  they 
caught  many  wolves.  Another  form  of  trap  I 
have  described  in  my  book  on  the  Blackfeet.* 
They  also  trapped  many  wolves  by  means 
of  dead-falls,  for  in  old  times  the  fur  of  these 
animals  was  highly  valued  by  some  tribes  for 
robes,  and  also  for  purposes  of  ornamentation, 
the  buffalo  robes  often  being  trimmed  with  a 
margin  of  white  wolf  skin. 

In  countries  where  buffalo  were  not  abund- 
dant,  wolves  killed  for  themselves  and  by  run- 
ning them  down,  deer,  moose,  caribou,  and 
perhaps  elk,  though,  as  these  last  animals  go 
in  large  droves  in  winter,  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  the  wolves  often  make  suc- 
cessful attacks  on  them. 

To-day  the  wolf  feeds  largely  on  domestic 
animals.  On  the  western  range  it  kills  many 
colts,  but  chiefly  calves  and  older  cattle,  as 
already  described.     The  she  wolf  which  has  a 

*  "  Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,"  page  240. 

168 


I 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

litter  of  young  puppies  leaves  them  in  their 
home — usually  a  hole  dug  in  some  cut  bank 
or  ravine — and,  sallying  out  to  the  prey,  eats 
freely  of  its  flesh,  and  then  returning  to  the 
mouth  of  the  hole,  disgorges  the  contents  of 
her  stomach,  on  which  the  puppies  feed.  As 
they  are  abundantly  supplied,  and  do  not  con- 
sume all  that  is  brought  to  them,  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  den  is  often  very  offensive 
from  the  odor  of  the  decaying  flesh.  We  are 
told  that  wolves  change  their  abiding  place 
several  times  during  the  growth  of  a  litter  of 
puppies. 

The  young  wolves  are  born  probably  in 
April,  over  most  of  the  plains  country.  I 
have  seen  them  in  July  half  grown,  big  and 
strong,  but  as  clumsy  as  pups  at  the  same 
age.  I  remember  that  once,  many  years  ago, 
as  I  rode  down  the  valley  of  the  Birdwood, 
toward  the  North  Platte,  in  company  with 
Major  North  and  a  dozen  young  fellows, 
white  and  Indian,  we  startled  from  beneath  a 
bush  an  old  she  wolf  and  five  half-grown  pup- 
pies. There  were  two  or  three  miles  of  level 
bottom  all  about  us,  and  our  fresh  horses 
were  eager  for  the  race,  which  we  were  glad 

to  give  them.     We  scattered  out,  and  for  a 

169 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

little  while  the  plain  was  alive  with  galloping 
figures  and  noisy  with  cracking  six-shooters, 
and  when  we  came  together  to  resume  our 
ride,  four  of  the  wolf  puppies  had  been  ac- 
counted for,  but  the  mother  and  the  other 
young  one  had  escaped,  either  by  speed  or  by 
dodging  into  high  grass,  where  it  was  impos- 
sible for  us  to  find  them. 

In  books  on  natural  history  tame  wolves 
are  often  mentioned,  but  I  have  never  seen 
one  unconfined.  I  have,  however,  often  seen 
wolves,  yo'^ng  and  old,  at  play,  when  they 
were  ignorant  of  my  presence,  and  have  been 
impressed  by  the  similarity  of  their  actions  to 
those  of  dogs  under  like  circumstances.  When 
not  alarmed,  they  often  hold  the  tail  high  up. 
I  have  seen  them  hold  it  nearly  straight  up, 
and  also  curved  up  at  various  angles,  as  a  dog 
may  hold  his.  To  show  affection  or  friendli- 
ness for  thei  fellows,  they  wag  their  tails  just 
as  a  dog  does ;  and  some  young  wolves,  seen 
a  year  or  two  ago  in  the  Zoological  Park  at 
Washington,  on  the  approach  of  the  keeper 
showed  the  evidences  of  affection  and  delight 
that  a  dog  would  at  the  approach  of  a  friend : 
laying  back  their  ears,  grinning,  wagging  their 

tails,  and  wriggling  their  bodies  in  an  absurd 

170 


f 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

transport  of  joy.  When  the  wolf  is  fright- 
ened, it  tucks  its  tail  between  its  legs,  and 
forward  under  its  belly,  precisely  as  does  a 
frightened  dog. 

A  good  many  years  ago  a  peculiar  circum- 
stance happened  to  me,  which  for  a  long  time 
I  was  unable  to  explain  to  myself  on  any 
theory  whatever.  With  a  single  companion  I 
was  traveling  south  through  western  Nebras- 
ka, then  absolutely  without  inhabitants,  and 
camped  one  night  on  the  bare  prairie,  forty  or 
fifty  miles  north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road. The  night  was  moonless,  but  bright 
starlight,  not  at  all  what  would  be  called  a 
dark  night.  The  horses  were  picketed  close 
to  us,  and  we  had  gone  to  bed,  and  were 
sleeping  some  few  feet  apart. 

About  the  middle  of  the  night  I  was  awak- 
ened by  feeling  something  drawn  across  my 
chest,  and  opening  my  eyes  I  saw,  sitting  on 
its  haunches  close  to  my  body,  a  wolf,  which, 
as  I  looked  at  it,  reached  out  its  paw  and 
again  drew  it  across  my  chest,  much  as  a  dog 
would  scrape  his  paw  over  his  master's  knee 
if  he  wished  to  attract  his  attention.  I  was 
more  or  less  irritated  at  being  aroused,  and, 
gently  freeing  my  feet  from  the  folds  of  the 

171 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

blanket  about  them,  I  threw  one  of  them 
around  and  kicked  the  wolf  in  the  ribs,  when 
it  promptly  disappeared,  and  I  saw  nothing 
more  of  it. 

I  have  since  concluded  that  the  wolf  was 
uncertain  whether  it  sat  by  a  carcass  or  a  living 
person,  and  was  experimenting  to  satisfy  itself 
on  this  point  before  beginning  its  meal.  The 
animal  was  certainly  a  gray  wolf,  as  shown  by 
its  size  and  outline,  which  I  distinctly  saw 
against  the  starlight  sky,  as  well  as  by  the 
resistance  that  I  felt  when  my  foot  struck  it, 
for  it  was  not  a  small  animal. 

The  wolf  of   Northern  Europe  is  said  to 

be  a  ferocious  beast,  and,  when  pressed  by 

hunger  in  winter,  frequently  to  destroy  human 

beings.     The  wolf  of  North  America,  which  is 

essentially  the  same  animal,  is  notoriously  a 

coward,  aad  avoids  man  when  he  can.     It  is 

true  that  at  frequent  intervals  stories  appear 

in  the  newspapers  giving  accounts  of  attacks 

on  human  beings  by  wolves  in  this  country. 

Such  stories  usually  contain  internal  evidence 

of  their  falsity.     Others  on  investigation  have 

proved  to  be  inventions,  others  still  cannot  be 

traced  to  their  authors. 

The  fact  seems  to  be  that,  until  the  advent 

172 


/ 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

of  white  men  in  America,  game  was  so  plenty 
that  the  wolves  had  no  difficulty  in  killing  for 
themselves  whatever  they  needed  to  supply 
their  wants.  They  were  seldom  disturbed  by 
man,  and  so  were  on  terms  of  friendliness  with 
the  aborigines.  Very  soon  after  the  coming 
of  the  white  man  the  wolves  began  to  learn 
that  these  new  people  were  not  friendly  or 
indifferent,  and  were  armed  with  weapons 
far  more  effective  than  those  used  by  the 
Indians ;  and  from  regarding  man  as  a  friend 
and  associate  they  came  to  avoid  him  as  a 
being  to  be  feared. 

The  deer,  the  moose,  the  caribou  and  the 
buffalo  furnished  a  fat  subsistence  to  the  wolf, 
and  long  before  those  animals  had  become 
exterminated  in  any  region,  and  hunger  had 
forced  him  to  consider  the  question  of  attack- 
ing human  beings,  the  wolf  had  learned  the 
power  of  the  white  man,  and  had  retreated 
beyond  the  settlements  to  regions  where  game 
was  still  plenty. 

Major  Frank  North,  who,  as  a  boy,  in  1856 
and  '57,  devoted  a  winter  to  poisoning  wolves 
in  Nebraska,  and  who  followed  the  wild  life 
of  the  western  prairies  almost  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death,  nearly  thirty  years  later,  told  me 

173 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

that  he  had  never  in  all  his  experience  known 
of  a  wolf  attacking  a  human  being.  On  a 
number  of  occasions  during  the  winter  that  he 
was  poisoning  wolves,  when  returning  on  foot 
after  dark  from  putting  out  his  baits,  he  was 
followed  at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  eight 
or  ten  feet  by  a  huge  white  wolf.  The  first 
two  or  three  times  that  it  followed  him  he  was 
afraid  of  it,  believing  that  perhaps  it  might 
attack  him,  but  it  never  approached  very  close 
to  him. 

I  have  known  of  but  one  person  being 
attacked  by  a  wolf,  and  this  attack  was  ap- 
parently not  made  because  the  animal  was 
hungry,  but  because  it  was  cross.  The  per- 
son who  was  injured  was  a  daughter  of  old  Jim 
Baker,  one  of  the  few  old-time  trappers  still 
living,  who  resides  on  Snake  River,  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  Colorado.  The  occur- 
rence took  place  about  sixteen  years  ago,  and 
in  summer.  The  young  girl,  then  eighteen 
years  old,  went  out  just  at  dusk  to  drive  in 
some  milk  cows.  As  she  was  going  toward 
them,  she  saw  a  gray  wolf  sitting  on  the 
hillside,  just  above  the  trail.  She  shouted 
to  frighten  it  away,  and  when  it  did  not  move, 
took  up  a  stone  and  threw  at  it.     The  animal 

174 


/ 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

snarled  at  her  call,  and  when  she  threw  the 
stone  came  jumping  down  the  hill,  caught  her 
by  the  shoulder,  threw  her  down,  and  tore  her 
badly  on  the  arms  and  legs.  She  screamed, 
and  her  brother,  who  happened  to  be  near 
and  had  his  gun,  ran  up  and  killed  the  wolf. 
It  was  a  young  animal,  barely  full  grown. 

If  a  man  is  unarmed  a  wolf  will  often  dis- 
play great  boldness.  Only  a  few  years  ago, 
while  on  the  Blackfoot  Reservation,  I  rode  past 
a  wolf,  perhaps  forty  yards  distant,  which  did 
not  even  turn  to  look  at  me  until  I  shouted  at 
him.  Then  he  slowly  turned  his  head  and 
looked  at  me,  and  actually  seemed  to  grin.  I 
had  nothing  about  me  more  formidable  than  a 
jack-knife. 

THE   COYOTE 

The  range  of  the  coyote  extends  from  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  as 
far  north  as  to  beyond  the  Red  Deer's  River, 
and  south  into  Mexico.  The  coyote  is  a 
small  animal,  less  than  half  the  size  of  the 
gray  wolf,  and  much  more  timid  than  that 
species,  but  it  is  abundant  enough  and  intelli- 
gent enough  to  do  a  great  deal  of  damage  to 
the  stockman's  herds. 

175 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

In  old  times,  before  the  days  of  range 
cattle,  the  coyotes  in  the  buffalo  range  sub- 
sisted chiefly  on  the  dead  buffalo  that  they 
found,  on  the  remains  of  those  killed  by  man, 
and  of  those  killed  by  the  wolves.  In  com- 
pany with  the  gray  wolves,  the  badgers  and 
the  kit  foxes,  they  visited  the  Indian's  buffalo 
traps.  Besides  this,  they  killed  deer,  ante- 
lopes, jack  rabbits  and  grouse,  together  with 
prairie  dogs,  ground  squirrels,  mice,  and  all 
sorts  of  ground  nesting  birds.  In  those  days 
coyotes  seemed  few  in  number  by  comparison 
with  the  gray  wolves,  and  they  were  always 
timid.  Yet  at  night  they  would  sneak  into 
camp,  and  carry  away  any  food  that  might 
have  been  left  lying  about,  or  would  chew 
up  reins,  horse  collars,  bridles,  raw-hide  ropes, 
and  even  saddles,  if  these  were  left  where  they 
could  get  at  them. 

In  the  northern  plains  country  the  young 

coyotes  are  born  about  May  i,  and  in  their 

early  puppyhood   are  maltese  blue  in  color. 

They  are  brought  forth  usually  in  a  hole  dug 

in  the  side  of  a  ravine,  and  until   they  are 

quite  well   grown   do   not  venture   far   from 

home,  holding  themselves  always  in  readiness 

to  dive  under  ground  at  the  slightest  alarm. 

176 


inge 
sub- 
they 
nan, 
com- 

and 
ffalo 
mte- 
with 
d  all 
days 
rison 
ways 

into 
night 
chew 
opes, 

they 

'oung 
their 
color. 
2  dug 
y  are 
from 
iiness 
darm. 


t 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 


Near  the  mouth  of  this  hole  may  be  found 
bones,  feathers  and  bits  of  skin,  and  often  the 
partially  devoured  bodies  of  rabbits,  prairie 
dogs  and  gophers,  on  which  the  pups  have 
been  chewing  or  with  which  they  have  played. 
The  parents  are  constantly  foraging  for  them 
and  they  have  plenty  to  eat. 

Their  retreat  does  not  always  save  them, 
and  I  have  more  than  once  spent  some  hours 
in  the  hot  sun  in  reaching  the  bottom  of  such 
a  hole  by  laboriously  digging  into  the  bank 
with  a  butcher  knife.  If  the  inmates  are  cap- 
tured the  profit  is  not  grtat,  for  their  extreme 
timidity  renders  young  coyotes  most  ill-na- 
tured, cantankerous  and  vicious  pets.  Their 
whole  time  and  intelligence  are  devoted  to 
solving  the  problem  of  escape,  and  usually 
one  night — or  at  most  two — gives  them  the 
solution,  and  they  slip  their  collars,  chew  off 
their  ropes,  or  gnaw  a  way  out  of  the  box, 
and  in  the  morning  are  missing.  Then  every- 
body in  camp — including  him  who  held  title 
to  the  beasts — is  heartily  glad  to  be  rid  of 
them. 

If,  however,  the  coyote  can  be  captured 
very  young,  before  it  knows  that  there  are 
such    things    as    friends    and    enemies,    it   is 

177 


Trail  and  CampFire 

readily  tamed  and  makes  an  interesting,  but 
always  mischievous,  pet.  I  have  seen  such 
tame  coyotes — tame  to  their  owners  and  to 
people  that  they  were  accustomed  to  see  each 
day,  but  very  shy  to  strangers,  and  keeping  at 
a  safe  distance  from  them.  An  interesting 
group  of  three  individuals  seen  on  a  ranch  in 
northern  Montana  had  been  captured  before 
their  eyes  were  opened.  As  very  small  pup- 
pies they  were  tame,  and  very  playful  and 
pretty.  When  about  half  grown  one  disap- 
peared, but  the  others  remained  about  the 
place,  on  the  best  of  terms  with  everyone,  in- 
cluding the  ten  or  a  dozen  greyhounds  which 
were  regularly  used  in  hunting  coyotes.  A 
short  time  after  this  it  was  observed  that  the 
chickens  were  disappearing,  and  a  little  later 
their  headless  bodies  would  be  found.  A 
watch  kept  by  the  small  boy  who  owned 
chickens  and  coyotes  alike,  proved  that  one 
of  the  wolves  was  killing  the  chickens  for  its 
own  amusement,  and  one  day  while  it  was 
watching  with  keen  satisfaction  the  struggles 
of  a  decapitated  hen,  the  boy  shot  it. 

The  third  member  of  the  family  grew  to  full 
size,  and  was  a  pretty,  though  timid,  animal. 

It   used   to   play   gaily  with   the   greyhound 

178 


f 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

puppies  of  its  own  size,  and  evidently  was  per- 
fectly at  home  with  them.  It  wagged  its  tail 
and  fawned  on  any  one  that  it  knew  well  who 
caressed  it,  but  if  a  stranger  attempted  to  pat 
it,  it  usually  dodged,  and  would  not  come 
within  reach  of  the  hand.  It  did  not  always 
remain  about  the  camp,  but  wandered  away 
on  to  the  prairie.  Here  it  was  several  times 
seen,  and  taken  for  a  wild  coyote,  and  chased 
by  the  hounds.  It  would  run  fast  and  far, 
and  at  length,  when  tired  or  about  to  be  over- 
taken, it  would  stop,  lie  down,  and  roll  over 
on  its  back,  lying  there  with  its  paws  in  the 
air  until  the  pack  came  up.  When  the  dogs 
reached  it,  and  recognized  it  as  a  friend,  it  at 
once  jumped  up  and  fraternized  with  them, 
seeming  by  its  actions  to  express  its  gratitude 
to  them  for  having  spared  it,  and,  perhaps,  its 
satisfaction  at  the  joke  it  had  played  on  the 
hounds.  At  all  events,  the  boy  who  rode 
with  the  pack  declared  that  he  believed  **  the 
little  devil  done  it  a'  purpose,"  and  I  was  very 
much  inclined  to  agree  with  him. 

The  wisdom  of  the  coyote  is  proverbial. 
In  the  folk  myths  of  many  tribes  of  western 
Indians  he  is  a  mysterious  and  supernatural 

being,  often  one  of  the  gods,  but  sometimes 

179 


Trail  and  Camp- Fire 

merely  a  man,  whose  craft  and  mysterious 
powers  enable  him  to  work  wonders  and  to 
perform  many  marvelous  deeds.  Yet,  whether 
god  or  man,  he  possesses  a  bad  and  malicious 
disposition,  and  is  always  getting  into  trouble, 
and  constantly  bringing  misiortune  on  those 
with  whom  he  is  associated.  The  deeds  at- 
tributed to  the  coyote  by  the  Indians,  while 
they  pay  a  high  tribute  to  his  intelligence 
leave  much  to  be  desired  as  to  his  morals. 

Coyotes  do  many  curious  things ;  but  one 
of  the  oddest  that  I  ever  heard  of  was  wit- 
nessed by  my  friend  Captain  North,  at  the 
old  ranch  on  the  Dismal  River  in  northern 
Nebraska.  The  ranch  house  at  the  lake  was 
built  of  sods  or  adobes,  with  walls  eighteen 
inches  or  two  feet  thick.  The  window  casings 
were  set  in  the  same  plane  with  the  inner 
walls,  and  the  sashes  were  hinged  above,  and 
when  the  windows  were  open  hooked  to  the 
ceilings  of  the  rooms.  There  was  thus  at 
each  window  an  embrasure  as  deep  as  the 
thickness  of  the  wall,  and  as  long  and  high  as 
the  sash. 

Among  the  dogs  at  the  ranch  was  a  bull- 
terrier,  which  among  the  cow  punchers  there 

had  a  great  reputation  as  a  fighter,  and  was 

1 80 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 


certainly  the  master  of  all  the  other  dogs,  and 
the  boys  never  wearied  of  talking  of  his  fight- 
ing qualities,  or  of  wishing  that  he  might  meet 
some  worthy  foe. 

One  night  in  winter,  some  one  happening 
to  look  out  of  the  ranch  window  discovered, 
curled  up  close  to  the  glass,  a  ball  of  fur, 
which  a  little  inspection  showed  to  be  a  coy- 
ote, which  had  jumped  up  into  the  embra- 
sure, and  was  peacefully  sleeping  in  the  warm 
and  sheltered  place  out  of  the  wind  and  snow. 
The  question  at  once  arose  what  they  should 
do  with  it.  It  could  easily  be  killed,  but 
there  would  be  no  fun  in  that.  At  length 
some  genius  among  those  present  proposed 
that,  while  one  man  should  cautiously  open 
the  window,  another  should  stand  by  with  the 
bull-terrier  in  his  arms,  and  throw  the  bull- 
terrier  on  to  the  coyote.  Then  all  could  rush 
outside  and  witness  the  fight,  and  the  dog's 
triumph.  The  plan  was  carried  out.  When 
all  was  ready  the  window  was  silently  and 
swiftly  opened  and  the  dog  was  tossed  on  to 
the  coyote,  which  at  once  disappeared,  fol- 
lowed by  the  dog,  and  all  hands  rushed  out  to 
see  the  fight.  They  heard  the  dog  rush  bark- 
ing around  the  house,  and  in  a  moment  he 

i8z 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

passed  them,  and  ran  around  the  corner,  bark- 
ing and  growling  and  greatly  excited.  Two 
or  three  times  he  ran  about  the  house,  but  the 
coyote  had  disappeared,  and  at  last  all  hands, 
much  disappointed,  went  inside  again.  One 
of  the  men,  going  to  the  window  to  see  that  it 
was  fastened,  was  astonished  to  see  the  coyote 
lying  up  against  the  glass,  just  as  he  had  seen 
it  a  few  moments  before.  The  coyote  had 
evidently  jumped  down  from  the  window,  run 
around  the  house,  and  when  he  came  to  the 
window  again  had  jumped  up  into  it  and 
gone  to  sleep,  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

The  strangest  part  of  the  story  follows. 
The  dog  was  again  thrown  at  the  coyote, 
which  at  once  repeated  its  performance,  again 
completely  baffling  the  dog,  which  lost  all 
trace  of  it.  It  seems  clear  from  this  that  the 
coyote,  while  smart  enough  to  measure  the 
dog's  intelligence,  did  not  connect  the  attack 
on  him  with  the  inside  of  the  house,  and  prob- 
ably did  not  know  that  the  window  had  been 
opened.  Such  matters  as  a  window  and  the 
inside  of  a  house  were,  of  course,  quite  outside 
the  range  of  his  experience.  The  cowboys, 
after  this  second  attempt,  being  much  im- 
pressed by   the  coyote's   smartness,   decided 


I 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

that  he  was  entitled  to  undisturbed  rest  for 
the  remainder  of  the  night. 

A  year  or  two  ago,  while  riding  out  to  look 
at  a  bunch  of  cattle,  I  saw  as  I  rode  over  a 
little  hill  near  the  house,  a  coyote  down  in  the 
next  valley,  and  with  the  coyote  was  a  badger. 
I  had  no  gun,  and  the  coyote  seemed  to  know 
it,  for  he  paid  no  attention  to  me,  but  ap- 
peared to  be  playing  with  the  badger.  He 
would  prance  around  it,  make  a  feint  of  at- 
tacking it,  and  then  run  off  a  little  way,  the 
badger  immediately  running  after  him.  This 
he  did  until  the  badger  had  gone  sixty  or 
seventy  yards,  when  I  got  so  near  the  two 
that  the  badger  saw  me,  and  ran  into  a  hole, 
and  the  coyote  trotted  off  a  short  distance, 
and  lay  down.  This  was  not  the  first  time 
that  I  had  seen  something  like  this  going  on, 
but  I  had  never  quite  comprehended  what  it 
meant.  Evidently  the  two  animals  were  either 
playing  with  each  other — which  was  most  un- 
likely— or  the  wolf  was  teasing  the  badger. 
Further  consideration,  and  talk  with  others 
who  had  seen  the  same  thing,  led  me  to  be- 
lieve that  the  wolf  was  plaguing  the  badger  in 
order  to  make  it  follow  him.  The  badger  is 
notoriously  short-tempered,  and  would  rather 

183 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

fight  than  run  away,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  coyote's  device  was  to  make  the  badger  so 
angry  that  it  would  follow  him,  and  to  draw  it 
along  until  a  second  coyote  was  met  with, 
when  the  two  would  attack  the  badger,  and 
kill  and  eat  it.  In  a  fight,  a  badger  would  be 
more  than  a  match  for  a  single  coyote,  but 
two  of  them  could  probably  tire  him  out,  and 
at  length  kill  him. 

A  striking  example  of  craft  and  intelligence 
was  seen  last  year  (1896)  at  my  ranch.  We 
have  there  a  rather  worthless  yellow  sheep 
dog,  which  imagines  that  he  can  catch  every- 
thing that  runs  away  from  him,  and  spends 
much  time  chasing  coyotes,  jack-rabbits,  and 
antelope.  He  never  catches  any  of  these 
creatures,  but  he  always  chases  them,  and 
after  he  has  run  himself  down,  comes  back 
with  lolling  tongue  and  a  mortified  air.  The 
coyotes  often  in  the  daytime  come  up  within 
one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  yards 
of  the  house,  and  whenever  the  dog  sees  them, 
he  chases  them  out  of  sight.  They  do  not 
appear  to  be  very  much  afraid  of  him,  and 
do  not  run  away  very  fast.  At  night  the 
coyotes  come  up  close  to  the  door,  and  can 

be  heard  all  about  the  building,  and  at  this 

184 


/ 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

time  the  dog  is  kept  busy  chasing  them,  but 
he  does  not  follow  them  far  after  dark. 

Not  very  long  ago  the  coyotes  devised  a 
plan  for  getting  rid  of  this  dog.  About  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  one  of  them  came  up  close 
tu  the  kitchen  door  and  howled.  The  dog 
rushed  out  after  it,  and  the  coyote  ran  away 
down  toward  one  of  the  corrals,  and  around 
behind  the  blacksmith's  shop  into  the  garden, 
the  dog  following  after  him  at  the  top  of  his 
speed.  Behind  the  blacksmith's  shop  were 
waiting  six  or  seven  other  coyotes,  which  at 
once  attacked  the  dog  and  began  to  worry 
him.  The  noise  of  the  fight  led  Collins  to 
seize  his  rifle  and  rush  out  there,  and  in  the 
bright  moonlight  he  saw  a  writhing,  snarling 
mass  of  animals  on  the  ground.  At  first  he 
could  not  shoot  for  fear  of  killing  the  dog,  but 
his  shouts  caused  the  coyotes  to  scatter,  and 
he  shot  at  one,  but  without  result.  He  was 
only  just  in  time  to  save  the  dog,  which  was 
badly  cut  up.  Since  that  time  Shep's  interest 
in  coyotes  has  somewhat  abated.  He  still 
chases  a  single  one  with  his  old  enthusiasm, 
but  if  a  second  appears  he  gives  up  the  pur- 
suit and  returns  to  the  house. 

The  coyote  eats  to  live,  and  lives  to  eat, 

185 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

and  the  question  of  subsistence  occupies  most 
of  his  thought.  So  he  has  become  an  expert 
in  hunting  methods,  and  these  methods  are 
well  worth  studying.  It  is  in  the  manner  in 
which  these  animals  combine  for  mutual  as- 
sistance in  the  actual  chase  that  they  show 
the  greatest  intelligence,  securing  with  a  min- 
imum of  effort  creatures  as  swift  as  the  jack- 
rabbit  or  the  antelope. 

Early  in  the  spring,  when  the  calves  are 
being  born,  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  from  one 
to  three  coyotes  sitting  round  on  the  hills 
waiting  for  an  old  cow  to  hide  her  new-born 
calf  and  go  off  for  water.  At  this  time  of  the 
year  they  get  a  good  many  of  the  calves.  It 
is  not  uncommon  for  several  of  them  to  sur- 
round a  single  cow  with  a  young  calf  and  try 
to  kill  it.  They  make  fierce  charges  up  close 
to  the  cow,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  her  away 
from  the  calf,  or  frightening  the  calf  so  that  it 
will  leave  her.  If  cow  and  calf  had  sense 
enough  to  keep  close  together  there  would  be 
little  danger,  but  often  a  young  heifer  will 
chase  a  coyote,  and  thus  become  separated 
from  her  calf,  and  then  two  or  three  bites 
from  the  other  coyotes  kill  the  calf. 

I  have  several  times  seen  this  plan  carried 

i86 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

out  by  coyotes,  and  that  it  is  not  confined  to 
any  one  territory  is  shown  by  an  account 
given  by  Miss  Florence  A.  Merriam,  in  Forest 
and  Stream^  where  she  quotes  a  conversation 
with  a  California  ranchman,  which  indicates 
that  coyotes  are  everywhere  very  much  alike. 
The  man  said  to  Miss  Merriam : 

"  We  used  to  miss  our  pigs  when  they  were 
a  month  or  six  weeks  old,  and  one  day  when  I 
was  carrying  on  the  piling  business  I  come 
out  to  the  ranch  and  the  hogs  were  up  here, 
and  I  rode  along,  and  as  I  got  on  to  the  rise 
where  that  black  stump  is,"  pointing  out  of 
the  window  toward  the  pasture  fence,  "  I  saw 
one  of  the  old  hogs  chase  a  coyote.  I  thought 
it  was  a  dog  first,  and  stopped  to  see.  Then 
I  saw  another  coyote  and  the  other  hog  was 
after  him." 

Two  coyotes  commonly  work  together,  it  is 
said ;  one  to  decoy  the  guardian  of  the  young, 
while  the  other  does  the  stealing. 

"The  little  pigs  was  scart,"  the  ranchman 
went  on,  "  and  they  stood  themselves  up  in  a 
little  pyramid  pile  while  the  old  hogs  was 
chasing  the  coyotes  away.  One  coyote  would 
come  up  and  the  hog  would  chase  him,  but 
the  coyote  would  keep  a-going  to  get  the  hog 

187 


/ 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

away  from  the  pigs ;  bother  and  tease  him  to 
get  him  away.  The  other  coyote  would  be 
dodgin*  round  close  where  the  pigs  were. 
Then  the  coyote  that  was  furthest  off  he  run 
and  skipped  by  his  hog,  and  run  as  fast  as  he 
could  for  the  pile  of  pigs  and  got  one.  By 
the  time  the  wolves  had  killed  the  pig,  the  old 
hogs  were  back  after  them,  but  they  maneu- 
vered round  till  one  got  the  pig  and  dragged 
it  off.  Then  the  old  hogs  went  after  the 
other  little  pigs  and  took  them  to  the  hill." 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  the  wolves  chase  a 
calf?"  I  asked  the  ranchman. 

"Seen  them?"  he  ejaculated.  "I've  seen 
them  right  there  on  that  flat,"  pointing  to  the 
meadow  below  the  house. 

"There  were  two  coyotes  and  a  cow  and 
a  calf.  The  coyotes  would  both  rush  up  to- 
gether, and  the  cow  would  take  after  one,  and 
he'd  run  off,  and  while  she  was  chasing  that 
one,  the  other  one  would  slip  up  and  kill  the 
calf.  If  a  coyote  attacks  one  cow  with  a  calf, 
when  she  sets  up  a-bawlin'  all  the  cows  within 
sight  or  hearing  will  come  to  the  rescue,  all 
bawlin'  and  bellerin'  to  drive  you  crazy." 

The  cowboys  are  greatly  troubled  by  coy- 
otes, and  the  farmer  explained  the  reason  by 

i88 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

saying :  "  You  know  the  cowboys  here  take  a 
cow's  hide  and  slit  it  up  into  strips  and  twist 
up  a  lariat  for  lassoing,  and  put  a  drag  hon- 
doo — a  block  of  rawhide  or  wood — on  the 
end.  They  picketed  their  horses  out  with 
them  years  ago  when  things  was  new,  and 
often  had  their  horses  cut  loose  at  night. 
The  coyotes  never  bother  rope,  but  I've  seen 
rawhide  lariats  cut  up  into  short  pieces  by 
them  as  slick  and  smooth  aj  if  cut  with  a 
knife.  Everybody  always  looks  out  for  his 
lariats  when  they  are  off  on  the  ranges.  A 
coyote  would  slip  right  up  and  cut  them. 
I've  been  told  of  it  by  a  great  many  horse 
men,  and  have  heard  of  it  out  in  the  deserts 
east  of  here." 

•'They're  a  sneakin*  animal,"  the  ranchman 
declared,  stroking  his  beard,  and  then  went 
on  to  tell  his  experiences  around  the  sheep 
camps.  "If  they  get  round  the  bed  ground, 
the  sheep  will  bunch  up.  I  had  a  bunch  of 
sheep,  about  2,400,  on  the  desert  near  the 
Grand  Cafion.  The  coyotes  was  thick  there. 
You  could  hear  them  barkin'  in  every  direc- 
tion— such  gangs  of  them,  all  barking  and 
howling  at  the  same  time.     On  a  dark  night 

like  this  they'd  make  night  hideous.    We  were 

189 


; 


T 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

doctorin'  the  sheep  for  the  scab,  and  had  them 
all  in  a  corral,  and  at  night  coulc^  hear  them 
surging  back  and  forth  from  one  side  to  the 
other.  The  sheep  men  say  coyotes  never  get 
inside  a  corral  to  get  the  sheep,  but  get  close 
to  the  outside.  When  they  get  inside  an  in- 
closure  they  haven't  much  show  to  get  out 
with  anything — they're  a  sensible  animal.  But 
they're  awful  bold  in  the  daytime  when  the 
sheep  are  out  in  the  herd.  They'll  run  up  to 
one  and  cut  its  throat.  Then  there's  a  grand 
scatterin',"  he  concluded,  as  he  reached  for 
his  hat,  and  went  out  to  hitch  the  bucking 
broncho.     So  writes  Miss  Merriam. 

The  prong-horned  antelope  is  the  swiftest 
animal  on  the  plains,  and  yet  the  coyotes 
catch  a  good  many  of  them  just  by  running 
them  down.  This  sounds  like  a  paradox,  yet 
it  is  quite  true,  and  is  explained  by  the  cun- 
ning of  the  wolves  and  the  habits  of  the 
antelope. 

A  single  coyote  which  undertook  to   run 

down  a  single  antelope  would  get  tired  and 

hungry   before   he    accomplished   much,    but 

when  two  or  three  coyotes  are  together  it  is 

quite  a  different  thing.     The  coyotes  do  not 

all  run    after   the  antelope  together.      They 

190 


> 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

take  turns,  and  while  one  runs  the  others  rest, 
and  at  last  they  tire  the  antelope  out,  and 
capture  it. 

If,  when  it  was  started,  the  antelope  ran 
straight  away,  it  would,  of  course,  leave  all  the 
wolves  behind,  those  that  were  resting  even 
more  than  the  one  that  was  chasing  it;  but 
the  antelope  often  does  not  run  straight  away; 
it  is  much  more  likely  to  run  in  large  circles, 
and  this  enables  the  wolves  to  take  turns 
when  chasing  it. 

When  three  or  four  prairie  wolves  decide 
that  they  want  antelope  meat,  one  of  them 
creeps  as  close  as  possible  to  the  antelope 
they  have  selected,  and  makes  a  rush  for  it, 
running  as  fast  as  he  possibly  can,  so  as  to 
push  the  antelope  to  its  best  speed  and  to 
tire  it  out.  Meantime  his  companions  spread 
out  on  either  side  of  the  runner,  and  get  upon 
little  hills  or  knolls  so  as  to  keep  the  chase  in 
sight.  They  trot  from  point  to  point,  and 
pretty  soon,  when  the  antelope  turns  and 
begins  to  work  back  toward  one  of  them,  this 
one  tries  to  get  as  nearly  as  possible  in  its 
path,  and  as  it  flies  by,  the  wolf  dashes  out  at 
it  and  runs  after  it  at  top  speed,  while  the  one 

that  had  been  chasing  the  antelope  stops  run- 

191 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

ning  and  trots  off  to  some  nearby  hill,  where, 
while  the  water  drips  off  his  lolling  tongue,  he 
watches  the  race,  and  gets  his  breath  again. 
After  a  little,  the  antelope  passes  near  another 
coyote,  which  in  turn  takes  up  the  pursuit. 
And  so  the  chase  is  kept  up  until  the  poor 
antelope  is  exhausted,  when  it  is  overtaken 
and  pulled  down  by  one  or  more  of  the 
hungry  brutes.  Of  course  the  coyotes  do  not 
catch  every  antelope  they  start.  Sometimes 
the  game  runs  such  a  course  that  it  does  not 
pass  near  any  of  the  waiting  wolves,  and  only 
the  one  that  starts  it  has  a*  /  running  to  do. 
In  such  a  case  the  pursuit  is  soon  abandoned. 
Sometimes  the  antelope  is  so  stout  and  strong 
that  it  tires  out  all  its  pursuers. 

Yet  the  wolves  catch  them  more  frequently 
than  one  would  think,  and  it  is  not  at  all 
uncommon  to  see  coyotes  chasing  antelope, 
although,  of  course,  to  see  the  whole  race 
and  its  termination  is  very  unusual.  Often  if 
a  wolf  running  an  antelope  comes  near  to  a 
man  he  gives  up  the  chase,  and  that  par- 
ticular antelope  is  saved.  It  is  a  common 
thing  for  a  coyote  to  chase  an  old  doe  with 
her  kids  just  after  the  little  ones  have  begun 

to  run  about.     At  that  time  they  are  very 

192 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 


swift  for  short  distances,  but  have  not  the 
strength  to  stand  a  long  chase.  In  such  a 
case  a  mother  will  often  stay  behind  her 
young,  and  will  try  to  fight  off  the  coyote, 
butting  him  with  her  head  and  striking  him 
with  her  forefeet.  He  pays  little  attention  to 
her,  except  to  snap  at  her,  and  keeps  on  after 
the  kids.  Several  times  I  have  seen  a  mother 
antelope  lead  her  little  ones  into  the  midst  of 
a  bed  of  cactus,  where  the  wolf  could  not  go 
without  getting  his  feet  full  of  thorns.  If  the 
bed  is  small,  the  wolf  makes  ferocious  dashes 
up  to  its  border,  trying  to  frighten  the  little 
ones  so  that  they  will  iun  out  on  the  other 
side  and  he  can  start  after  them  again,  but 
usually  the  mother  has  no  trouble  in  holding 
them.  I  have  several  times  killed  young  an- 
telope whose  legs  had  been  bitten  by  coyotes, 
but  which  had  got  away. 

The  coyotes  understand  very  well  at  what 
time  of  the  year  the  young  antelope  are  born, 
and  at  this  season  they  spend  much  time  sit- 
ting about  on  the  hills  and  watching  the  old 
does.  These,  however,  are  often  pretty  well 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  I  have 
seen  an  old  doe,  which  unquestionably  had 
young  hidden  somewhere  nearby  in  the  grass, 

193 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

chase  a  coyote  clear  out  of  the  county.  She 
kept  close  behind  him  for  the  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  that  I  could  see  them,  striking  at 
him  as  che  ran,  and  he  had  his  tail  between 
his  legs,  and  was  evidently  thoroughly  scared. 

One  hot  summer  day  some  years  ago,  a 
gang  of  section  men  were  working  in  a  cut  on 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  west  of  Laramie, 
when  suddenly  a  big  buck  antelope  ran  down 
one  side  of  the  cut,  across  the  track,  and  up 
the  other  side.  His  sudden  dash  in  among 
them  startled  the  men ;  and  while  they  stood 
looking  up  where  he  had  crossed,  a  coyote 
suddenly  plunged  down  the  side  of  the  cut, 
just  as  the  antelope  had  done.  The  readiest 
of  the  section  men  threw  a  hammer  at  him, 
and  the  wolf  turned  and  scrambled  up  the 
bank  that  he  had  just  come  down,  and  was 
not  seen  again. 

Some  years  ago  I  camped  one  afternoon  on 
Rock  Creek,  Wyo.,  and  as  there  was  very  little 
feed  we  turned  the  horses  loose  at  night  to 
pick  among  the  sage  brush  and  grease  wood. 
Early  in  the  morning,  before  sunrise,  while 
the  man  with  me  was  getting  breakfast,  I 
started  out  to  look  for  the  horses.  They 
were  nov/here  to  be  seen,  and  I  climbed  to 

<94 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 


the  top  of  the  hill  back  of  camp»  from  which, 
as  it  was  the  only  high  place  anywhere  about, 
I  felt  sure  that  I  could  see  the  missing  ani- 
mals. Just  before  I  got  to  the  top  of  the  hill 
an  old  doe  antelope  suddenly  came  in  view, 
closely  followed  by  a  coyote.  Both  of  them 
seemed  to  be  running  as  hard  as  they  could, 
and  both  had  their  tongues  hanging  out  as  if 
they  had  come  a  long  way.  Suddenly,  almost 
at  the  heels  of  the  antelope — much  closer  to 
her  than  the  other  wolf — appeared  a  second 
coyote,  which  now  took  up  the  running,  while 
the  one  that  had  been  chasing  her  stopped, 
and  sat  down  and  watched.  The  antelope 
ran  quite  a  long  distance,  always  bearing  a 
little  to  the  left,  and  now  seeming  to  run 
more  slowly  than  when  I  first  saw  her.  As 
she  kept  turning,  it  was  evident  that  she 
would  either  run  around  the  hill  on  which  I 
stood  or  would  come  back  near  it.  At  first  I 
was  so  interested  in  watching  her  that  I  for- 
got to  look  at  the  wolf  that  had  halted  near 
me.  When  I  did  so  he  was  no  longer  at  the 
place  where  he  had  paused,  but  was  trotting 
over  a  little  ridge  that  ran  down  from  the  hill, 
and  watching  the  chase  that  was  now  so  far 
off.     He   could   easily   have    run    across   the 

195 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

cord  of  the  arc  and  headed  the  antelope,  but 
he  knew  too  well  what  she  would  do  to  give 
himself  that  trouble.  After  a  little,  it  was 
evident  that  the  antelope  would  come  back 
pretty  near  to  the  hill,  but  on  the  other  side 
of  it  from  where  she  had  passed  before,  and 
the  wolf  which  I  had  first  seen  chasing  her 
trotted  out  two  or  three  hundred  yards  on  to 
the  prairie  and  sat  down.  The  antelope  was 
now  coming  back  almost  directly  toward  him, 
and  I  could  see  that  there  were  two  wolves 
behind  her,  one  close  at  her  heels  and  the 
other  a  long  way  further  back.  The  first 
wolf  now  seemed  quite  excited.  He  no  longer 
sat  up,  but  crouched  close  to  the  ground, 
every  few  moments  raising  his.  head  very 
slowly  to  take  a  look  at  the  doe,  and  then 
lowering  it  again,  so  that  he  wouid  be  out  of 
sight.  Sometimes  he  crawled  on  his  belly  a 
few  feet  further  from  me,  evidently  trying  to 
put  himself  directly  in  the  path  of  the  ante- 
lope ;  and  this  he  seemed  to  have  succeeded 
in  doing.  As  she  drew  near  him  I  could  see 
that  she  was  staggering,  she  was  so  tired,  and 
the  wolf  behind  could  at  any  moment  have 
knocked  her  down  if  he  had  wanted  to,  but  he 

seemed  to  be  waiting  for  something.     The 

196 


f 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

wolf  that  was  following  him  was  now  running 
faster  and  catching  up. 

When  the  antelope  reached  the  place  where 
the  first  wolf  was  lying  hidden,  he  sprang  up, 
and  in  a  jump  or  two  caught  her  by  the  neck 
and  threw  her  down.  At  the  same  moment 
the  two  wolves  from  behind  came  up,  and  for 
a  moment  there  was  a  scufifle,  in  which  yellow 
and  white  and  gray  and  waving  tails  were  all 
mixed  up,  and  then  the  three  wolves  were  seen 
standing  there,  tearing  away  at  their  breakfast. 

I  was  so  much  interested  in  the  intelligence 
shown  by  the  coyotes  that  I  do  not  think  I 
felt  the  least  sympathy  for  the  antelope.  Even 
if  I  had  wanted  to  help  her  I  could  have  done 
nothing,  for  she  was  so  tired  that  the  coyotes 
could  easily  have  caught  her  after  I  had  gone. 

Mr.  Lew  Wilmot,  an  old-timer  in  the  West- 
ern country,  has  contributed  to  Forest  and 
Stream  some  interesting  notes  on  the  hunt- 
ing habits  of  the  coyote,  which  are  well  worth 
quoting.     He  says : 

"  A  few  years  ago  along  in  the  spring,  I  took 

my  rifle  and  started  up  into  the  open  hills  to 

kill  some  grouse,  and  when  I  got  up  on  the 

top  of  a  small  ridge  that  puts  down  between 

my  creek  and  the  Columbia   River,   I   stood 

197 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

still  for  a  while,  listening  for  a  grouse  to  hoot. 

"Across  from  where  I  stood  was  quite  a 
high  mountain,  covered  with  bunch  grass  and 
a  few  scattering  pines ;  the  snow  had  not  all 
gone,  especially  near  the  top.  I  had  not 
stopped  very  long  when  I  saw  a  deer  coming 
over  the  hill,  and  from  the  way  it  was  running 
I  knew  there  was  something  after  it.  Soon  1 
saw  two  coyotes  down  to  the  right,  and  from 
the  way  they  were  running  I  thought  they 
were  trying  to  head  the  deer  off  from  the  river. 
Soon  I  saw  two  more  on  the  trail,  and  then  I 
saw  two  more  to  the  left,  and  it  looked  to  me 
as  if  those  that  were  on  the  flanks  were  run- 
ning the  fastest.  There  was  a  crossing  in  a 
gap  in  the  ridge  I  was  on,  and  I  knew  the  deer 
would  come  through  that  gap ;  so  I  ran  down 
toward  the  gap,  not  that  I  wanted  to  shoot  the 
deer,  but  I  wanted  to  shoot  at  the  coyotes  that 
were  on  the  deer's  track. 

"  I  had  not  got  quite  down  to  the  gap  when 
the  deer  came  through.  It  was  a  whitetail 
buck,  and  he  was  doing  his  best  to  get  to  the 
river.  I  had  but  a  short  time  to  wait  when 
the  two  coyotes  came  along.  I  whistled  when 
they  got  opposite  to  me  and  they  stopped  and 
looked  up.     I  fired  at  the  one  that  looked  the 

igS 


; 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

largest.  At  the  crack  of  the  rifle  it  started, 
and  ran  as  fast  as  it  could  for  about  fifty  yards 
and  rolled  over  dead.  The  other  followed  it 
for  a  few  yards  and  then  turned  off  up  the  hill, 
and  when  it  saw  its  mate  roll  over  it  stopped. 
I  shot  at  it,  and  as  I  did  not  make  the  right 
allowance  for  distance,  undershot  and  broke 
one  of  its  legs.  I  put  my  dog  after  it  and  he 
soon  brought  it  to  bay,  and  I  had  the  satisfac- 
tion  of  killing  it. 

"  On  another  occasion  I  was  coming  down 
from  a  neighbor's,  and  when  near  the  bottom 
on  the  Columbia  I  noticed  a  couple  of  coyotes 
hunting  through  the  grass  and  low  bushes ; 
they  had  their  tails  up  like  dogs,  and  seemed 
to  be  as  busy. 

"  Soon  they  were  joined  by  two  more,  and 
all  had  their  tails  up,  and  as  they  had  not  dis- 
covered me  I  waited  to  see  what  they  were 
after.  I  never  saw  dogs  hunt  through  a  flat 
more  diligently  than  they  did,  and  it  was  very 
amusing  to  see  them  with  their  tails  up.  I 
think  they  were  hunting  chipmunks.  Not 
having  anything  to  shoot  with,  I  started  on, 
and  when  they  saw  me  they  trotted  off  up  the 
gulch,  but  lowered  their  tails,  coyote-like. 

"  I  have  often  been  told  by  white  men  and 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

by  Indians  that  they  have  seen  as  many  as 
fifteen  coyotes  after  one  deer.  This  winter 
while  on  a  trip  to  Curlew  I  had  to  go  down  on 
Kettle  River,  and  I  saw  where  six  deer  had 
been  caught  by  coyotes.  I  examined  to  see 
whether  any  big  wolves  had  been  among  them, 
but  did  not  see  a  track.  An  old  Indian  told 
me  that  a  few  days  before  the  coyotes  had  run 
a  deer  down  on  to  the  ice  and  caught  it,  and 
he  heard  it  bleat,  and  he  ran  down,  but  when 
he  got  there  they  had  almost  eaten  it  up." 

Accounts  of  how  the  coyote  points  the  game 
that  it  is  hunting  have  often  been  published, 
and  one  summer  during  haying  time  a  good 
example  of  this  was  seen  by  some  of  the  hay- 
makers at  my  ranch  in  Wyoming. 

The  loaded  hay  wagon  was  coming  back 
from  one  of  the  meadows,  when  a  coyote  was 
seen  forty  or  fifty  yards  from  the  road  appar- 
ently on  a  stiff  point.  He  was  standing  abso- 
lutely still,  his  nose  and  tail  straight  out  in  a 
line,  and  one  forefoot  lifted  from  the  ground. 
Just  before  him  there  was  a  very  slight  rise  of 
ground,  but  the  men  who  were  riding  on  top 
of  the  load  of  hay  could  see  over  this,  and  saw 
that  he  was  pointing  a  prairie  dog  which  was 

feeding  near  its  hole,  just  on  the  other  side  of 

200 


; 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

the  elevation.  They  were  so  interested  in  the 
sight  that  they  stopped  the  wagon  and  watched 
Every  little  while  the  prairie  dog  would  sit  up 
and  look  about,  and  when  he  did  this  the  co- 
yote would  stand  absolutely  without  motion. 
When  the  dog  dropped  down  on  all  four  feet 
and  began  to  feed,  the  coyote  would  very 
slowly  and  stealthily  cieep  up  a  few  feet 
nearer.  This  thing  went  on  for  some  min- 
utes, the  dog  not  seeming  to  notice  the  co- 
yote, which  at  the  last  must  have  been  in 
plain  sight.  The  last  time  the  dog  dropped 
down  to  feed,  the  coyote  made  a  swift  rush, 
covering  twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  picked  the  little 
animal  up,  and  then  for  the  first  time  noticing 
the  hay  wagon,  stood  for  a  moment  with  his 
prey  hanging  across  his  mouth,  and  then  trot- 
ted slowly  off  up  the  hill. 

As  he  is  usually  seen,  the  coyote  gives  one 
the  impression  of  a  down-trodden  much-bullied 
animal,  that  desires  nothing  so  much  as  to  get 
away.  It  sneaks  along  with  downcast  mien 
and  lowered  tail,  and  casts  fearful  glances  back- 
ward over  its  shoulder,  as  if  it  expected  every 
moment  to  have  a  stone  thrown  at  it.  But 
if  you  happen  to  be  without  a  gun  when  you 
meet  it,  there  is  no  animal  on  the  prairie  more 

20I 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

unconcerned  and  impudent.  They  will  baric 
at  you  from  a  nearby  hilltop,  or  trot  a  few 
paces  from  the  trail  you  are  following,  and  lie 
down  and  yawn  as  you  ride  by  with  an  assump- 
tion of  being  bored  that  would  be  aggravating 
if  it  were  not  so  comical. 

Their  impudence  shows  itself  sometimes  in 
their  daring  to  tease  the  big  wolves,  whose 
power  one  would  think  should  protect  them 
from  such  attacks.  A  pair  of  coyotes  were 
seen  one  winter  not  long  ago,  on  a  big  piece 
of  ice,  engaged  in  bothering  a  gray  wolf.  The 
ice  was  slippery,  and  they  could  get  started  and 
could  turn  much  more  quickly  than  their  larger 
cousin.  One  of  them  would  dance  in  front 
of  him  and  annoy  him,  while  the  other  ran 
by  from  behind  and  nipped  him  as  it  went 
past.  Then  the  big  wolf  would  try  to  turn  and 
chase  the  little  one,  but  he  would  slip,  and  be- 
fore he  fairly  got  started  would  get  a  nip  from 
the  other.  So  they  worried  him  for  a  long 
time — in  fact,  until  the  observer  tired  of  look- 
ing at  them,  and  rode  away. 

To  my  mind  the  coyote  is  a  much  more  in- 
teresting animal  than  the  gray  wolf,  and  I 
believe  that  on  account  of  his  greater  abun- 
dance and  his  far  greater  intelligence  he  does 

2o2 


> 


Wolves  and  Wolf  Nature 

almost  as  much  harm.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
does  not  a  little  good  by  killing  prairie  dogs, 
ground  squirrels,  and  other  rodents  that  de- 
stroy the  farmers'  crops. 

I  never  see  a  coyote  nowadays  without  being 
reminded  of  my  old  friend  Medicine  Bear,  and 
of  the  speech  he  addressed  to  me  in  a  council 
with  reference  to  his  support  in  the  future. 
He  began  something  like  this : 

I  always  think  about  living.  If  I  was  thinking  of 
dying  I  would  have  been  dead  long  ago.  I  like  to  eat 
and  that  is  why  I  am  living,  and  when  I  see  you  out 
here,  I  see  that  I  can  still  live,  and  that  I  am  still  going 
to  have  some  more  meat.  The  only  thing  I  am  living 
for  now  is  eating.  Ever  since  I  have  been  living  there 
has  not  been  a  day  of  this  time  but  I  have  had  something 
to  eat,  so  it  makes  me  feel  good  when  I  hear  a  man  talk- 
ing about  how  I  can  still  live. 

George  Bird  GrinnelL 


SOS 


On  the  Little  Missouri 


Formerly  the  prong-horned  antelope  were 
very  plentiful  on  the  immense  rolling  prairies 
which  stretch  back  of  the  Little  Missouri, 
where  my  ranch  house  stands.  In  the  old 
days  they  could  often  be  procured  by  luring 
them  with  a  red  flag  —  for  they  are  very 
inquisitive  beasts.  Now  they  have  grown 
scarce  and  wary,  and  must  usually  either  be 
stalked,  which  is  difficult,  owing  to  their  ex- 
treme keenness  of  vision  and  the  absence  of 
cover  on  the  prairies,  or  else  must  be  ridden 
into.  With  first-class  greyhounds  and  good 
horses  they  can  often  be  run  down  in  fair 
chase ;  without  greyhounds  the  rider  can  hope 
for  nothing  more  than  to  get  within  fair  shoot- 
ing-range, and  this  only  by  taking  advan- 
tage of  their  peculiarity  of  running  straight 
ahead  in  the  direction  in  which  they  are 
pointed  when  once  they  have  settled  into 
their  pace.  Usually  antelope,  as  soon  as  they 
see  a  hunter,  run  straight  away  from  him; 


204 


f 


On  the  Little  Missouri 

but  sometimes  they  make  their  flight  at  an 
angle,  and  as  they  do  not  like  to  change  their 
course  when  once  started,  it  is  occasionally 
possible  to  cut  them  off  from  the  point  toward 
which  they  are  headed,  and  get  a  reasonably 
close  shot. 

In  the  fall  of  1896  I  spent  a  fortnight  on 
the  range  with  the  ranch  wagon.  I  was  using 
for  the  first  time  one  of  the  new  small-calibre, 
smokeless-powder  rifles,  a  3030-160  Winches- 
ter. I  had  a  half-jacketed  bullet,  the  butt 
being  cased  in  hard  metal,  while  the  nose  was 
of  lead. 

While  traveling  to  and  fro  across  the  range 
we  usually  moved  camp  each  day,  not  putting 
up  the  tent  at  all  during  the  trip ;  but  at  one 
spot  we  spent  three  nights.  It  was  in  a  creek 
bottom,  bounded  on  either  side  by  rows  of 
grassy  hills,  beyond  which  stretched  the  roll- 
ing prairie.  The  creek  bed,  which  at  this 
season  was  of  course  dry  in  most  places, 
wound  in  S-shaped  curves,  with  here  and 
there  a  pool  and  here  and  there  a  fringe 
of  stunted  wind-beaten  timber.  We  were 
camped  near  a  little  grove  of  ash,  box-elder, 
and  willow,  which  gave  us  shade  at  noonday ; 

and  there  were  two  or  three  pools  of  good 

205 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

water  in  the  creek  bed — one  so  deep  that  I 
made  it  my  swimming-bath. 

The  first  day  that  I  was  able  to  make  a 
hunt  I  rode  out  with  my  foreman,  Sylvane 
Ferris.  I  was  mounted  on  Muley.  Twelve 
years  before,  when  Muley  was  my  favorite 
cutting  pony  on  the  round-up,  he  never 
seemed  to  tire  or  lose  his  dash,  but  Muley 
was  now  sixteen  years  old,  and  on  ordinary 
occasions  he  liked  to  go  as  soberly  as  possi- 
ble ;  yet  the  good  old  pony  still  had  the  fire 
latent  in  his  blood,  and  at  the  sight  of 
game — or,  indeed,  of  cattle  or  horses — he 
seemed  to  regain  for  the  time  being  all  the 
headlong  courage  of  his  vigorous  and  supple 
youth. 

On  the  morning  in  question  it  was  two  or 

three  hours  before  Sylvane  and  I  saw  any 

game.     Our  two  ponies  went  steadily  forward 

at  a  single  foot  or  shack,  as  the  cow-punchers 

term  what  Easterners  call  "a  fox  trot."    Most 

of  the  time  we  were  passing  over  immense 

grassy  flats,  where  the  mat  of  short  curled 

blades    lay   brown    and    parched    under   the 

bright   sunlight.     Occasionally  we   came  to 

ranges  of  low  barren   hills,  which  sent  off 

gently  rounded  spurs  into  the  plain. 

206 


/ 


On  the  Little  Missouri 

It  was  on  one  of  these  ranges  that  we  first 
saw  our  game.  As  we  were  traveling  along 
the  divide  we  spied  eight  antelope  far  ahead 
of  us.  They  saw  us  as  soon  as  we  saw  them, 
and  the  chance  of  getting  to  them  seemed 
small ;  but  it  was  worth  an  effort,  for  by 
humoring  them  when  they  start  to  run,  and 
galloping  toward  them  at  an  angle  oblique  to 
their  line  of  flight,  there  is  always  some  little 
chance  of  getting  a  shot.  Sylvane  was  on  a 
light  buckskin  horse,  and  I  left  him  on  the  ridge 
crest  to  occupy  their  attention  while  I  cantered 
off  to  one  side.  The  prong-horns  became  un- 
easy as  I  galloped  away,  and  ran  off  the  ridge 
crest  in  a  line  nearly  parallel  to  mine.  They 
did  not  go  very  fast,  and  I  held  in  Muley,  who 
was  all  on  fire  at  the  sight  of  the  game.  After 
crossing  two  or  three  spurs,  the  antelope  going 
at  half  speed,  they  found  I  had  come  closer  to 
them,  and  turning,  they  ran  up  one  of  the  val- 
leys between  two  spurs.  Now  was  my  chance, 
and  wheeling  at  right  angles  to  my  former 
course,  I  galloped  Muley  as  hard  as  I  knew 
how  up  the  valley  nearest  and  parallel  to  where 
the  antelope  had  gone.  The  good  old  fellow 
ran   like  a  quarter-horse,  and  when  we  were 

almost  at  the  main  ridge  crest  I  leaped  off,  and 

207 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

ran  ahead  with  my  rifle  at  the  ready,  crouch- 
ing down  as  I  came  to  the  sky-line.  Usually 
on  such  occasions  I  find  that  the  antelope  have 
gone  on,  and  merely  catch  a  glimpse  of  them 
half  a  mile  distant,  but  on  this  occasion  every- 
thing went  right.  The  band  had  just  reached 
the  ridge  crest  about  220  yards  from  me  across 
the  head  of  the  valley,  and  had  halted  for  a 
moment  to  look  around.  They  were  starting 
as  I  raised  my  rifle,  but  the  trajectory  is  very 
flat  with  these  small-bore  smokeless-powder 
weapons,  and  taking  a  coarse  front  sight  I  fired 
at  a  young  buck  which  was  broadside  to  me. 
There  was  no  smoke,  and  as  the  band  raced 
away  I  saw  him  sink  backward,  the  ball  having 
broken  his  hips. 

We  packed  him  bodily  behind  Sylvane  on 
the  buckskin  and  continued  our  ride,  as  there 
was  no  fresh  meat  in  camp,  and  we  wished  to 
bring  in  a  couple  of  bucks  if  possible.  For 
two  or  three  hours  we  saw  nothing.  The  un- 
shod feet  of  the  horses  made  hardly  any  noise 
on  the  stretches  of  sun-cured  grass,  but  now 
and  then  we  passed  through  patches  of  thin 
weeds,  their  dry  stalks  rattling  curiously,  mak- 
ing a  sound  like  that  of  a  rattlesnake.    At  last, 

coming  over  a  gentle  rise  of  ground,  we  spied 

208 


/ 


ouch- 
jually 
;  have 
them 
every- 
iached 
across 
L  for  a 
tarting 
is  very 
powder 
1 1  fired 
J  to  me. 
A  raced 
1  having 

[vane  on 
as  there 
ished  to 
Ae.     For 
The  un- 
,ny  noise 
but  now 
;s  of  thin 
Lsly,  mak- 
At  last, 
[  we  spied 


On  the  Little  Missouri 

two  more  prong-bucks,  half  a  mile  ahead  of  us 
and  to  our  right. 

Again  there  seemed  small  chance  of  bagging 
our  quarry,  but  again  fortune  favored  us.  I  at 
once  cantered  Muley  ahead,  not  toward  them, 
but  so  as  to  pass  them  well  on  one  side.  After 
some  hesitation  they  started,  not  straight  away, 
but  at  an  angle  to  my  own  course.  For  some 
moments  I  kept  at  a  hand  gallop,  until  they 
got  thoroughly  settled  in  their  line  of  flight ; 
then  I  touched  Muley,  and  he  went  as  hard 
as  he  knew  how.  Immediately  the  two  panic- 
stricken  and  foolish  beasts  seemed  to  feel  that 
I  was  cutting  off  their  line  of  retreat,  and  raced 
forward  at  mad  speed.  They  went  much  faster 
than  I  did,  but  I  had  the  shorter  course,  and 
when  they  crossed  me  they  were  not  fifty  yards 
ahead — by  which  time  I  had  come  nearly  a 
mile.  At  the  pull  of  the  rein  Muley  stopped 
short,  like  the  trained  cow-pony  he  is  ;  I  leaped 
off,  and  held  well  ahead  of  the  rearmost  and 
largest  buck.  At  the  crack  of  the  little  rifle 
down  he  went  with  his  neck  broken.  In  a 
minute  or  two  he  was  packed  behind  me  on 
Muley,  and  we  bent  our  steps  toward  camp. 

During  the  remainder  of  my  trip  we  were 

never  out  of  fresh  meat,  for  I  shot  three  other 

209 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

bucks — one  after  a  smart  chase  on  horseback, 
and  the  other  two  after  careful  stalks;  and  I 
missed  two  running  shots. 

The  game  being  both  scarce  and  shy,  I  had 
to  exercise  much  care,  and  after  sighting  a 
band  I  would  sometimes  have  to  wait  and 
crawl  round  for  two  or  three  hours  before  they 
would  get  into  a  position  where  I  had  any 
chance  of  approaching.  Even  then  they  were 
more  apt  to  see  me  and  go  off  than  I  was  to 
get  near  them. 

Antelope  are  the  only  game  that  can  be 
hunted  as  well  at  noonday  as  in  the  morning 
or  evening,  for  their  times  for  sleeping  and 
feeding  are  irregular.  They  never  seek  shel- 
ter from  the  sun,  and  when  they  lie  down  for 
a  noonday  nap  they  are  apt  to  choose  a  hoi- 
low,  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  wind ;  in  conse- 
quence, if  the  band  is  seen  at  all  at  this  time, 
it  is  easier  to  approach  them  than  when  they 
are  up  and  feeding.  They  sometimes  come 
down  to  water  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  some- 
times in  the  morning  or  evening.  On  this  trip 
I  came  across  bands  feeding  and  resting  at 
almost  every  time  of  the  day.  They  seemed 
usually  to  feed  for  a  couple  of  hours,  then 
begin  feeding  again. 

2IO 


On  the  Little  Missouri 


The  last  shot  I  got  was  when  I  was  out  with 
Joe  Ferris,  in  whose  company  I  had  killed  my 
first  buffalo,  just  thirteen  years  before,  and  not 
very  far  from  this  same  spot.  We  had  seen 
two  or  three  bands  that  morning,  and  in  each 
case,  after  a  couple  of  hours  of  useless  effort,  I 
failed  to  get  near  enough.  At  last,  toward 
mid-day,  after  riding  and  tramping  over  a  vast 
extent  of  broken  sun-scorched  country,  we  got 
within  range  of  a  small  band  lying  down  in  a 
little  cup-shaped  hollow  in  the  middle  of  a 
great  flat.  I  did  not  have  a  close  shot,  for 
they  were  running  about  i8o  yards  off.  The 
buck  was  rearmost,  and  at  him  I  aimed;  the 
bullet  struck  him  in  the  flank,  coming  out  of 
the  opposite  shoulder,  and  he  fell  in  his  next 
bound.  As  we  stood  over  him,  Joe  shook  his 
head,  and  said,  **  I  guess  that  little  .30-30  is  the 
ace  "  ;  and  I  told  him  I  guessed  so  to. 

Beside  antelope,  the  only  wild  beasts  of  any 
size  which  are  still  left  on  the  plains  anywhere 
near  the  Little  Missouri  are  wolves  and  coyotes. 
Coyotes  are  more  or  less  plentiful  everywhere 
in  thinly  settled  districts.  They  are  not  dan- 
gerous to  horses  or  cattle,  but  they  will  snap  up 
lambs,  young  pigs,  cats,  and  hens,  and  if  very 
hungry  several  often  combine  to  attack  a  young 


211 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

calf.  In  consequence,  farmers  and  ranchers 
kill  them  whenever  the  chance  offers  ;  but  they 
do  no  damage  which  is  very  appreciable  when 
compared  with  the  ravages  of  their  grim  big 
brother,  the  gray  wolf,  which  in  many  sections 
of  the  West  is  now  a  veritable  scourge  of  the 
stock-men. 

The  big  wolves  shrink  back  before  the 
growth  of  the  thickly  settled  districts,  and  in 
the  Eastern  States  they  often  tend  to  disap- 
pear even  from  districts  that  are  uninhabited, 
save  by  a  few  wilderness  hunters.  They  have 
thus  disappeared  almost  entirely  from  Maine, 
the  Adirondacks,  and  the  Alleghanies,  although 
here  and  there  they  are  said  to  be  returning 
to  their  old  haunts.  Their  disappearance  is 
rather  mysterious  in  some  instances,  for  they 
are  certainly  not  all  killed  off.  The  black  bear 
is  much  easier  killed,  yet  the  black  bear  holds 
its  own  in  many  parts  of  the  land  from  which 
the  wolf  has  vanished.  No  animal  is  quite  so 
difficult  to  kill  as  is  the  wolf,  whether  by  poison 
or  rifle  or  hound.  Yet,  after  a  comparatively 
few  have  been  slain,  the  entire  species  will  per- 
haps vanish  from  certain  localities. 

But  with  all  wild  animals,  it  is  a  noticeable 
fact  that  a  course  of  contact  with  man  continu- 

212 


I 


On  the   Little  Missouri 

ing  over  many  generations  of  animal  life  causes 
a  species  so  to  adapt  itself  to  its  new  surround- 
ings that  it  ceases  to  diminish  in  numbers. 
When  white  men  take  up  a  new  country,  the 
game,  and  especially  the  big  game,  being  en- 
tirely unused  to  contend  with  the  new  foe, 
succumbs  easily,  and  is  almost  completely 
killed  out.  If  any  individuals  survive  at  all, 
however,  the  succeeding  generations  are  far 
more  difficult  to  exterminate  than  were  their 
ancestors,  and  they  cling  much  more  tena- 
ciously to  their  old  homes.  The  game  to  be 
found  in  old  and  long-settled  countries  is  much 
more  wary  and  able  to  take  care  of  itself  than 
the  game  of  an  untrodden  wilderness.  It  is  a 
very  difficult  matter  to  kill  a  Swiss  chamois ; 
but  it  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  kill  a  white  goat 
after  a  hunter  has  once  penetrated  among  the 
almost  unknown  peaks  of  the  mountains  of 
British  Columbia.  When  the  ranchmen  first 
drove  their  cattle  to  the  Little  Missouri  they 
found  the  deer  tame  and  easy  to  kill,  but  the 
deer  of  Maine  and  the  Adirondacks  test  to  the 
full  the  highest  skill  of  the  hunter. 

In  consequence,  after  a  time,  game  may  even 
increase  in  certain  districts  where  settlements 

are  thin.     This  has  been  true  of  the  wolves 

213 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

throughout  the  northern  cattle  country  in 
Montana,  Wyoming,  and  the  western  ends  of 
the  Dakotas.  In  the  old  days  wolves  were 
very  plentiful  throughout  this  region,  closely 
following  the  huge  herds  of  buffaloes.  The 
white  men  who  followed  these  herds  as  pro- 
fessional buffalo-hunters  were  often  accom- 
panied by  other  men,  known  as  wolfers,  who 
poisoned  these  wolves  for  the  sake  of  their 
furs.  With  the  disappearance  of  the  buffalo 
the  wolves  diminished  in  numbers  so  that  they 
also  seemed  to  disappear.  During  the  last 
ten  years  their  numbers  have  steadily  increased, 
and  now  they  seem  to  be  as  numerous  as  they 
ever  were  in  the  region  in  question,  and  they 
are  infinitely  more  wary  and  more  difificult  to 
kill. 

Along  the  Little  Missouri  their  ravages  have 
been  so  serious  during  the  past  four  years  as 
to  cause  heavy  damage  to  the  stock-men.  Not 
only  colts  and  calves,  but  young  trail  stock, 
and  in  midwinter  even  full-grown  horses  and 
steers,  are  continually  slain  ;  and  in  some  sea- 
sons the  losses  have  been  so  heavy  as  to  more 
than  eat  up  all  the  profits  of  the  ranchman. 
The  county  authorities  have  put  a  bounty  on 
wolf  scalps  of  three  dollars  each,  and  in  my 

214 


/ 


On  the  Little  Missouri 

own  neighborhood  the  ranchmen  have  of  their 
own  accord  put  on  a  further  bounty  of  five 
dollars.  This  makes  eight  dollars  for  every 
wolf,  and  as  the  skin  is  also  worth  something, 
the  business  of  killing  wolves  is  quite  profit- 
able. 

Wolves  are  very  shy,  and  show  extraordin- 
ary cunning  both  in  hiding  themselves  and  in 
slinking  out  of  the  way  of  the  hunter.  They 
are  rarely  killed  with  the  rifle.  I  have  my- 
self shot  but  one  with  the  rifle,  though  I 
have  several  times  taken  part  in  the  chase  of 
a  wolf  with  dogs,  and  have  if  necessary  helped 
the  pack  finish  the  quarry.  They  are  occa- 
sionally trapped,  but  after  a  very  few  have 
been  procured  in  this  way  the  survivors  be- 
come so  wary  that  it  is  almost  impossible  even 
for  a  master  of  the  art  to  do  much  with  them, 
while  an  ordinary  man  can  never  get  one  into 
a  trap  except  by  accident.  More  can  be  done 
with  poison,  but  even  in  this  case  the  animal 
speedily  learns  caution  by  experience.  When 
poison  is  first  used  in  a  district  wolves  are 
very  easily  killed,  and  perhaps  most  of  them 
will  be  slain,  but  nowadays  it  is  difficult  to 
catch  any  but  young  ones  in  this  way.  Occa- 
sionally an  old  one  will  succumb,  but  there 

315 


Trail  and  Camp- Fire 

are  always  some  who  cannot  be  persuaded  to 
touch  a  bait.  The  old  she-wolves  teach  their 
cubs,  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  walk,  to  avoid 
man's  trace  in  every  way,  and  to  look  out  for 
traps  and  poison. 

In  consequence,  though  most  cow-punchers 
carry  poison  with  them,  and  are  continually 
laying  out  baits,  and  though  some  men  devote 
most  of  their  time  to  poisoning  for  the  sake 
of  the  bounty  and  the  fur,  the  results  are  not 
very  remunerative.  The  most  successful  wolf- 
hunter  on  the  Little  Missouri  for  the  past  year 
was  a  man  who  did  not  rely  on  poison  at  all,  but 
on  dogs.  He  is  a  hunter  named  Massingale, 
and  he  always  has  a  pack  of  at  least  twenty 
hounds.  The  number  varies,  for  a  wolf  at  bay 
is  a  terrible  fighter,  with  jaws  like  that  of  a 
steel  trap  and  teeth  that  cut  like  knives,  so  that 
the  dogs  are  continually  disabled  and  some- 
times killed,  and  the  hunter  has  always  to  be 
on  the  watch  to  add  animals  to  his  pack.  It 
is  not  a  pack  that  would  appeal,  as  far  as 
looks  go,  to  an  Old-World  huntsman,  but  it 
is  thoroughly  fitted  for  its  own  work.  Most 
of  the  dogs  are  greyhounds,  whether  rough 
or  smooth  haired,  but  many  of  them  are  big 

mongrels,  part  greyhound  and  part  some  other 

216 


} 


On  the  Little  Missouri 

breed,  such  as  bull-dog,  mastiff,  Newfound- 
land, bloodhound,  or  collie.  The  only  two 
requisites  are  that  the  dogs  shall  run  fast  and 
fight  gamely ;  and  in  consequence  they  form 
as  wicked,  hard-biting  a  crew  as  ever  ran  down 
and  throttled  a  wolf.  They  are  usually  taken 
out  ten  at  a  time,  and  by  their  aid  Massingale 
killed  two  hundred  wolves  during  the  year. 
Of  course  there  is  no  pretence  of  gi''ing  the 
game  fair  play.  The  wolves  are  killed  as  ver- 
min, not  for  sport.  The  greatest  havoc  is  in 
the  spring-time,  when  the  she-wolves  are  fol- 
lowed to  their  dens,  which  are  sometimes  holes 
in  the  earth  and  sometimes  natural  caves. 
There  are  from  three  to  nine  whelps  in  each 
litter.  Some  of  the  hounds  are  very  fast,  and 
they  can  usually  overtake  a  young  or  weak 
wolf ;  but  an  old  dog-wolf,  with  a  good  start, 
unless  run  into  at  once,  will  surely  get  away  if 
he  is  in  running  trim.  Frequently,  however, 
he  is  caught  when  he  is  not  in  running  trim, 
for  the  hunter  is  apt  to  find  him  when  he  has 
killed  a  calf  or  taken  part  in  dragging  down 
a  horse  or  steer,  and  is  gorged  with  meat. 
Under  these  circumstances  he  cannot  run  long 
before  the  pack. 

If   possible,   as   with   all    such    packs,   the 

217 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

hunter  himself  will  get  up  in  time  to  end  the 
worry  by  a  stab  of  his  hunting-knife ;  but 
unless  he  is  quick  he  will  have  nothing  to  do, 
for  the  pack  is  thoroughly  competent  to  do 
its  own  killing.  Grim  fighter  though  a  great 
dog-wolf  is,  he  stands  no  show  before  the  on- 
slaught of  ten  such  hounds,  agile  and  power- 
ful, who  rush  on  their  antagonist  in  a  body. 
They  possess  great  power  in  their  jaws,  and 
unless  Massingale  is  up  within  two  or  three 
minutes  after  the  wolf  is  taken,  the  dogs  liter- 
ally tear  him  to  pieces,  though  one  or  more  of 
their  number  may  be  killed  or  crippled  in  the 
fight. 

Other  hunters  are  now  striving  to  get  to- 
gether packs  thoroughly  organized,  and  the 
wolves  may  soon  be  thinned  out ;  but  at 
present  they  are  certainly  altogether  too  plen- 
tiful. Last  fall  I  saw  a  number  myself,  al- 
though I  was  not  looking  for  them.  I  fre- 
quently came  upon  the  remains  of  sheep  and 
young  stock  which  they  had  killed,  and  once, 
on  the  top  of  a  small  plateau,  I  found  the 
body  of  a  large  steer,  while  the  torn  and  trod- 
den ground  showed  that  he  had  fought  hard 
for  his  life  before  succumbing.     There  were 

apparently  two  wolves  engaged  in  the  work, 

218 


f 


On  the  Little   Missouri 

an<^*i  the  cunning  beasts  had  evidently  acted  in 
concert.  While  one  attracted  the  steer's  at- 
tention, the  other,  according  to  the  invariable 
wolf  habit,  attacked  him  from  behind,  ham- 
stringing him  and  tearing  out  his  flanks.  His 
body  was  still  warm  when  I  came  up,  but  his 
murderers  had  slunk  off,  either  seeing  or 
smelling  me.  Their  handiwork  was  unmis- 
takable, however,  for,  unlike  bears  and  cougars, 
wolves  invariably  attack  their  victim  at  the 
hindquarters,  and  begin  their  feast  on  the 
hams  or  flanks  if  the  animal  is  of  any  size. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  some  points  my 
observations  about  wolves  are  in  seeming  con- 
flict with  those  of  Mr.  Grinnell ;  but  I  think 
the  conflict  is  more  seeming  than  real ;  and  in 
any  event  I  have  concluded  to  let  the  article 
stand  just  as  it  is.  The  great  book  of  Nature 
contains  many  passages  which  are  hard  to 
read,  and  at  times  conscientious  students  may 
well  draw  up  different  interpretations  of  the 
obscurer  and  least  known  texts.  It  may  not 
be  that  either  observer  is  at  fault ;  but  what  is 
true  of  an  animal  in  one  locality  may  not  be 
true  of  the  same  animal  in  another,  and  even 
in  the  same  locality  two  individuals  of  a  spe- 
cies may  widely  differ  in  their  habits.     On  the 

219 


Trail  and  Camp-FIre 

Little  Missouri,  for  the  last  two  or  three  years, 
as  formerly  on  the  Sun  River,  hunting  with 
doefs  has  been  found  to  be  a  far  more  success- 
ful  method  of  getting  rid  of  wolves  than  trap- 
ping. Doubtless  there  are  places  where  this 
would  not  be  true.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  wherever  wolves  have  been  chased  in  one 
manner  for  a  long  time,  a  new  method  will 
at  first  prove  particularly  efficacious.  When 
they  have  become  thoroughly  used  to  poison, 
traps  have  a  great  success.  If  they  are  per- 
sistently trapped,  then  poisoning  does  well. 

I  am  particularly  interested  in  what  Mr. 
Grinnell's  informants  have  described  as  to  the 
occasional  tolerance,  even  by  hungry  wolves, 
of  kit  foxes ;  for  frequently  a  wolf  will  snap 
up  a  fox  as  quickly  as  he  would  a  fawn,  and 
once,  at  least,  I  have  known  of  a  coyote  being 
killed  by  a  wolf  for  food. 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 


Note. — The  apparent  discrepancies  between  the  ob- 
servations recorded  in  the  two  articles  on  wolves  just 
preceding,  may,  we  think,  readily  be  explained  on  two 
grounds.  One  of  these  is  that  of  difference  in  locality, 
but  more  important  is  the  difference  in  the  date  of  the 
two  sets  of  observations.  In  the  West,  difference  in 
time  means  difference  in  surrounding  conditions. 

220 


I 


On  the  Little  Missouri 

It  is  suggested  that  two  points  in  Mr.  Grinnell's  article 
are  open  to  criticism.  It  is  known  that  to-day  hungry 
wolves  will  readily  kill  foxes,  and  Mr.  Grinnell  himself 
gives  examples  of  what  he  believes  to  be  attempts  by 
coyotes  to  kill  badgers.  Therefore,  the  account  quoted 
from  Mr.  Kipp,  of  a  pair  of  hungry  wolves  mingled  with 
coyotes  and  kit  foxes,  waiting  near  a  buffalo  carcass, 
seems  almost  incredible.  The  wolves  should  have  eaten 
the  kit  foxes,  and,  perhaps,  even  the  coyotes. 

The  answer  to  this  is  simple.  At  the  time  to  which 
the  event  here  quoted  refers,  wolves  were  never  hungry. 
We  are  accustomed  in  a  conventional  way  to  speak  of 
wolves  as  lean  and  hungry  beasts,  but  in  the  buffalo  days 
they  were  seldom  or  never  lean,  and  seldom  or  never 
really  hungry,  because  they  always  had  plenty  of  buffalo 
meat.  Therefore,  it  was  that  wolves,  coyotes,  badgers 
and  kit  foxes  associated  on  terms  of  more  or  less  equal- 
ity, and  very  seldom,  so  far  as  known,  interfered  with 
each  other.  Of  course,  at  a  feast  the  big  wolves  served 
themselves  first,  and  the  other  animals  came  after  them 
in  order  of  size,  unless  there  was  enough  for  all,  which 
was  usually  the  case.  To-day  the  big  wolves  are  glad  to 
eat  any  animal  smaller  than  themselves.  Coyotes  try  to 
catch  and  eat  badgers  and  kit  foxes,  and  it  is  possible 
that  occasionally  in  some  way  the  badger  may  be  able  to 
capture  and  eat  a  kit  fox.  For  all  these  animals  food 
now  is  very  scarce.  For  all  of  them,  food  in  the  old 
times  was  extremely  abundant. 

It  is  further  suggested  that  the  statement  that  wolves 
regarded  the  Indians  as  friends,  is  putting  it  a  little  too 
strongly,  since  it  is  also  stated  that  many  tribes  assidu- 
ously hunted  them  for  their  fur.    It  is  true  that  the 

221 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


Indians  caught  wolves  for  their  skins,  but  they  did  not 
pursue  them,  that  is  to  say,  they  did  not^-or  very  sel- 
dom— shoot  at  them  or  chase  them.  They  caught  them 
in  traps  and  snares,  and  the  wcTlves,  being  usually  full  fed 
and  seldom  or  never  frightened  by  the  Indians,  were  ex- 
ceedingly tame.  Note,  in  confirmation  of  this  view,  a 
statement  in  "Lewis  and  Clark's  Travels,"  page  172 
(Longman,  London,  1814),  where  the  wolves  about  a 
buffalo  trap  are  said  to  have  been  very  fat,  and  so  "gentle 
that  one  of  them  was  killed  with  an  esponton." 

When  Mr.  Grinnell  makes  a  general  statement  about 
how  wolves  and  Indians  regard  each  other,  he  confesses 
that  he  is  generalizing  about  all  Indians  and  all  wolves 
from  those  Indians  and  those  wolves  that  he  has  known. 
Very  likely  he  may  be  wrong  as  to  certain  sections  of 
the  country,  but  he  is  convinced  that  he  is  right  so  far  as 
the  plains  country  and  the  buffalo  Indians  were  con- 
cerned. On  the  other  hand,  in  one  of  the  old  books 
about  British  Columbia,  where  there  were  no  buffalo, 
wolves  are  said  to  be  always  hungry,  and  mention  is 
made  of  the  havoc  these  animals  wrought  among  horses, 
and  of  the  fact  that  they  occasionally  attacked  men,  so 
that  the  Indians  stood  in  dread  of  them.  Statements 
about  hungry  wolves,  and  wolves  attacking  men,  must, 
however,  be  accepted  with  caution. 

No  fact  in  natural  history  «s  better  ascertained  than 
that  wild  animals  adapt  themselves  with  extraordinary 
rapidity  to  the  new  conditions  which  they  have  to  face 
on  the  settling  up  of  a  country.  This  fact  will  often 
explain  the  conflicting  statements  made  by  observers  in 
different  places  and  at  different  times. 

The  Editors. 


222 


ltd  not 
ry  sel- 
t  them 
full  fed 
ere  ex- 
view,  a 
ge   172 
ibout  a 
"  gentle 

It  about 
onfesses 
il  wolves 
5  known. 
:tions  of 
so  far  as 
-ere  con- 
Id  books 

buffalo, 
ention  is 
g  horses, 

men,  so 
atements 
en,  must, 

ned  than 
ordinary 
to  face 

vill  often 
ervers  in 

Editors. 


Bear  Traits 

Bears  are  recognized  as  the  shyest  and  wariest  of  big 
animals,  but  most  of  the  stories  told  about  them  have  to 
do  more  with  the  emotions  of  the  hunter,  or  with  the 
game's  ferocity  when  wounded,  than  with  the  manner  of 
life  of  the  bear.  The  increasing  scarcity  and  increas- 
ing shyness  of  these  animals  renders  the  study  of  their 
habits  each  year  more  difficult,  and  it  is  high  time  that 
observations  such  as  here  set  down  should  be  recorded. 


A    BERRY    PICKER 

It  was  on  a  little  river  flowing  into  the  head 
of  a  British  Columbia  inlet  that  I  saw  my  first 
bear — a  black  one.  We  had  laboriously  poled 
our  canoe  for  a  mile  or  two  up  the  rushing 
river,  and  had  landed  on  a  gravel  bar  to  sur- 
vey the  mountain  sides  for  white  goats,  when 
around  a  point  a  little  below  us  on  the  other 
side  of  the  stream  walked  a  moderate  sized 
bear.  It  was  August,  and  the  ripe  salmon 
berries  hung  thick  on  bushes  which  grew  in 

the  edge  of  the  forest  on  the  cut  bank  beneath 

223 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

which  the  river  flowed.  These  berries  occu- 
pied all  the  bear's  attention,  and  he  did  not 
notice  the  men  who  stood  in  plain  sight  on 
the  other  side  of  the  stream.  He  walked 
slowly  along  from  bush  to  bush,  raising  his 
head  and  wrapping  his  tongue  around  the 
branches,  and  then  stripping  off  berries  and 
leaves  alike  by  a  downward  pull.  When  he 
had  cleared  the  lower  branches,  he  stood  on 
his  hind  feet,  and  pulling  down  the  higher 
branches  with  his  forepaws,  he  stripped  them 
in  the  same  way.  All  his  motions  were  de- 
liberate, and  the  way  in  which  he  gathered  the 
food  with  mouth  and  tongue  reminded  me  of 
a  cow  pulling  apples  from  a  low-growing  tree. 
I  watched  him  with  great  interest  until  he 
had  approached  within  perhaps  seventy-five 
yards  of  where  we  stood.  Then,  fearing  that 
he  would  smell  us,  I  fired  at  the  white  spot  in 
his  breast,  and,  as  the  smoke  lifted,  had  a  dis- 
solving view  of  his  hips  as  they  disappeared  in 
the  undergrowth.  When  we  had  pushed  across 
the  river  in  the  canoe,  we  found  blood  on  the 
weeds  where  he  had  vanished,  and  a  little 
further  in  the  forest  came  upon  the  bear, 
comfortably  curled  up  on  his  side  with  his 
paws  over  his  nose. 

234 


/ 


occu- 
d  not 
ht  on 
ralked 
g   his 
d   the 
s  and 
len  he 
»od  on 
higher 
1  them 
ere  de- 
red  the 
L  me  of 
g  tree, 
ntil  he 
nty-five 
ng  that 
spot  in 
1  a  dis- 
ared  in 
across 
on  the 

1  little 

2  bear, 
ith   his 


Bear  Traits 

Once  in  Montana,  at  a  much  greater  dis- 
tance, I  saw  an  old  bear  and  two  cubs  pick- 
ing huckleberries  in  a  little  mountain  valley. 
They  walked  busily  about  from  bush  to  bush 
and  seemed  to  gather  the  berries  one  by  one, 
though  the  distance  was  too  great  for  me  to 
be  sure  as  to  this.  The  Indians  tell  me  that 
when  the  service  berries  are  ripe,  the  bears 
"  ride  "  down  the  taller  bushes  by  their  weight, 
pressing  the  stems  down  under  the  chest,  the 
two  forelegs  being  on  either  side  of  the  stem. 
I  have  seen  quite  stout  service  berry  trees 
that  had  evidently  been  borne  down  in  pre- 
cisely this  way. 

George  Bird  Grinnell, 


A    SILVER    TIP    FAMILY 

Most  of  my  hunting  of  grizzlies  was  in  the 
Big  Horn  Mountains,  in  i88o,  i88i,  1882,  and 
1883,  ^t  a  time  when  they  were  not  much 
disturbed,  and  had  not  as  yet  adopted  what  I 
understand  is  now  a  common  habit,  of  feeding 
almost  exclusively  at  night.  A  favorite  cus- 
tom of  mine  was  to  ride  to  a  hill  or   point 

225 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

overlooking  a  good  deal  of  hillside  and  forest 
margin,  picket  my  hunting  pony,  and  with  a 
good  field-glass  to  watch  such  game  as  might 
appear ;  and  in  those  days  it  was  seldom  that 
some  animals  were  not  in  sight — buffalo,  elk, 
white  tail  or  mule  deer,  antelope,  sheep,  and 
black  or  silver  tip  bears — according  to  the 
locality.  As  a  rule,  I  preferred  to  watch 
rather  than  to  hunt,  unless  an  unusually  fine 
head  or  the  need  of  meat  in  camp  was  an 
incentive  to  kill.  Of  the  game  seen  none  was 
more  interesting  than  the  silver  tip,  and  with 
one  family  I  became  quite  well  acquainted. 

While  on  a  fishing  trip  in  June,  camp  was 
made  on  a  fine  trout  stream  where  I  passed 
several  days,  fishing  a  little  and  incidentally 
looking  over  the  country  with  a  view  to  re- 
turning in  October  for  a  fall  hunt.  Near  by 
was  a  divide,  o^  ^or  a  mile  or  more  and  then 
covered  with  pine,  surrounded  on  two  sides 
of  its  triangle  by  small  caflons.  Regularly 
each  afternoon  about  four  o'clock,  a  large 
female  silver  tip  with  two  cubs  would  appear 
from  the  woods  and  work  over  the  ground, 
sometimes  till  dark.  Occasionally  a  larger 
bear,  probably  a  male,  would  appear,  but  did 
not  join  the  others,  who  seemed  to  be  rather 

226 


i 


Bear  Traits 

afraid  of  him.  I  may  mention  that  on  one 
occasion  three  mule  deer  crossed  the  slope  a 
little  below  the  bears,  so  that  I  had  the  un- 
usual experience  of  having  four  bears  and 
three  deer  in  the  field  of  the  glass  at  one 
time. 

The  chief  occupation  of  the  bears  while  in 
sight  was  turning  over  stones  in  search  of 
insects  beneath,  and  it  was  most  interesting 
to  watch  their  methods.  A  man  turning  over 
a  stone  usually  draws  it  over  directly  toward 
himself,  to  the  imminent  danger  of  his  toes ; 
but  a  bear  knows  better  than  that.  In  the 
case  of  a  heavy  stone,  they  would  brace  them- 
selves with  one  foreleg  and  with  the  other 
raise  the  stone  and  give  it  an  outward  sweep 
well  to  one  side,  so  that  it  would  not  strike 
them  in  falling.  The  moment  the  stone  was 
over  their  heads  went  down,  and  they  appar- 
ently licked  up  such  insects  as  were  in  sight, 
though  I  was  not  near  enough  actually  to  see 
this.  Then  usually  one  or  two  rapid  sweeps 
of  a  paw  were  made,  probably  to  uncover 
such  insects  as  might  have  secreted  them- 
selves. One  of  the  cubs  would  sometimes 
join  the  mother  in  this  search,  but  generally 

each  worked  independently.     Imitating  their 

227 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

mode  of  search,  I  l^ave  found  many  beetles 
and  ants,  and  numbers  of  mole  crickets,  and 
of  the  large  stone  cricket  {Anabrus).  In 
this  place,  at  least,  dead  stumps  were  rarely 
searched. 

The  habit  of  turning  over  stones  is  very 
general  in  the  spring  and  early  summer,  and 
was  one  of  the  best  indications  of  the  pres- 
ence of  bears  ;  later  in  the  season,  wild  plums 
and  other  fruits  are  more  generally  sought  as 
food.  This  family  of  bears  were  regular  in 
their  habits,  feeding  from  early  morning  till 
about  nine  o'clock,  and  reappearing  about 
four  in  the  afternoon.  On  cloudy  or  showery 
days  they  might  be  seen  at  intervals  all  day, 
but  a  hard  rain  they  avoided.  The  female, 
while  watchful,  was  not  at  all  shy.  She  hap- 
pened to  be  in  sight  when  the  tents  were 
pitched,  a  process  she  watched  with  much 
apparent  interest  and  some  surprise.  At  first 
she  brought  her  cubs  in  close  to  her ;  but 
before  long  they  resumed  their  search  for 
insects,  and  finding  they  were  not  molested, 
paid  little  more  attention  to  us.  When  watch- 
ing an  object  she  would  raise  herself  to  her 
full   height   on  her  forelegs  and   elevate  the 

head,  which  was  moved   slowly  from  side  to 

228 


f 


etlcs 

,  and 

In 

arely 

very 
•,  and 

pres- 
plums 
jht  as 
lar  in 
ig  till 

about 


Bear  Traits 

side,  giving  her  a  rather  uncanny  look  of 
mingled  watchfulness  and  waggishness ;  at 
such  times  she  appeared  to  be  making  up 
her  mind  whether  to  sneak  off,  to  charge,  or 
to  dance !  This  is  a  common  attitude,  and 
one  I  have  frequently  observed  when  hunt- 
ing. The  effect  is  of  a  pretty  direct  line 
from  nose  to  rump  in  contrast  with  the  usual 
outline  of  the  bear  on  all  fours,  where  the 
shoulders  are  highest  and  the  head  and  rump 
lowest.  This  attitude  has  something  comical 
about  it,  and  when  seen  assures  the  hunter 
that  the  animal  is  alert. 

I  watched  this  interesting  family  for  about 
a  week,  and  left  them  undisturbed  until  au- 
tumn. At  that  time  bears  were  plentiful.  In 
the  same  month  and  near  the  same  place  I 
saw  eleven  in  one  day,  two  black  and  nine 
silver  tips,  which  I  think  was  not  far  from  the 
usual  relative  abundance  of  the  two  species 
in  the  Big  Horn  Mountains  fifteen  and  twenty 
years  ago. 

I  remember  these  incidents  more  distinctly 
than  others  that  occurred  to  me.  Unfortu- 
nately, in  those  days  I  thought,  with  many 
others,  that  game  would  continue  in  abun- 
dance  much   longer   than    proved   to  be  the 

229 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

case,  and  so  neglected  to  preserve  many  notes 
and  specimens  that  to-day  would  be  of  very 
great  interest. 

/.   C,   Merrill. 


THE    liEAR  S    DISPOSITION 

My  own  experience  with  bears  tends  to 
make  me  lay  special  emphasis  upon  their  vari- 
ation in  temper.  There  are  savage  and  cow- 
ardly bears,  just  as  there  are  big  and  little 
ones  ;  and  sometimes  these  variations  are  very 
marktd  among  bears  of  the  same  district,  and 
at  other  times  all  the  bears  of  one  district 
will  seem  to  have  a  common  code  of  behavior 
which  differs  utterly  from  that  of  the  bears 
of  another  district.  Readers  of  Lewis  and 
Clarke  do  not  need  to  be  reminded  of  the 
great  difference  they  found  in  ferocity  be- 
tween the  bears  of  the  Upper  Missouri  and 
the  bears  of  the  Columbia  River  drainage 
system ;  and  those  who  have  lived  in  the 
Upper  Missouri  country  nowadays  know  how 
widely  the  bears  that  still  remain  have  altered 
in  character  from  what  they  were  as  recently 

as  the  middle  of  the  century. 

230 


Bear  Traits 

This  variability  has  bncn  shown  in  the  bears 
which  I  have  stumbled  upon  at  close  quarters. 
On  but  one  occasion  was  I  ever  regularly 
charged  by  a  grizzly.  To  this  animal  I  had 
<;iven  a  mortal  wound,  and  without  any  effort 
at  retaliation  he  bolted  into  a  thicket  of  what, 
in  my  hurry,  I  thought  was  laurel  (it  being 
composed  in  reality  I  suppose  of  thick-grow- 
ing berry  bushes).  On  my  following  him  up 
and  giving  him  a  second  wound,  he  charged 
very  determinedly,  taking  two  bullets  without 
flinching.  I  just  escaped  the  charge  by  jump- 
ing to  one  side,  and  he  died  almost  immedi- 
ately after  striking  at  me  as  he  rushed  by. 
This  bear  charged  with  his  mouth  open,  but 
made  very  little  noise  after  the  growl  or  roar 
with  which  he  greeted  my  second  bullet.  I 
mention  the  fact  of  his  having  kept  his  mouth 
open,  because  one  or  two  of  my  friends  who 
have  been  charged  have  informed  me  that  in 
their  cases  they  particularly  noticed  that  the 
bear  charged  with  his  mouth  shut.  Perhaps 
the  fact  that  my  bear  was  shot  through  the 
lungs  may  account  for  the  difference,  or  it 
may  simply  be  another  example  of  individual 
variation. 

On  another  occasion,  in  a  windfall,  I  got  up 

231 


/ 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

within  eight  or  ten  feet  of  a  grizzly,  which 
simply  bolted  off,  paying  no  heed  to  a  hurried 
shot  which  I  delivered  as  I  poised  unsteac'ily 
on  the  swaying  top  of  an  overthrown  dead 
pine.  On  yet  another  occasion,  when  I  roused 
a  big  bear  from  his  sleep,  he  at  the  first  mo- 
ment seemed  to  pay  little  or  no  heed  to  me, 
and  then  turned  toward  me  in  a  leisurely  way, 
the  only  sign  of  hostility  he  betrayed  being 
to  rufifle  up  the  hair  on  his  shoulders  and  the 
back  of  his  neck.  I  hit  him  square  between 
the  eyes,  and  he  dropped  like  a  pole-axed  steer. 
On  another  occasion  I  got  up  quite  close  to 
and  mortally  wounded  a  bear,  which  ran  off 
without  uttering  a  sound  until  it  fell  dead ; 
but  another  of  these  grizzlies,  which  I  shot 
from  ambush,  kept  squalling  and  yelling  every 
time  I  hit  him,  making  a  great  rumpus.  On 
one  occasion  one  of  my  cow  hands  and  myself 
were  able  to  run  down  on  foot  a  she  grizzly 
bear  and  her  cub,  which  had  obtained  a  long 
start  of  us,  simply  because  of  the  foolish  con- 
duct of  the  mother.  The  cub — or  more  prop- 
erly the  yearling,  for  it  was  a  cub  of  the  sec- 
ond year — ran  on  far  ahead,  and  would  have 
escaped   if  the  old  she  had  not   continually 

stopped  and  sat  up  on  her  hind  legs  to  look 

232 


/ 


Bear  Traits 

back  at  us.  I  think  she  did  this  partly  from 
curiosity,  but  partly  also  from  bad  temper,  for 
once  or  twice  she  grinned  and  roared  at  us. 
The  upshot  of  it  was  that  I  got  within  range 
and  put  a  bullet  in  the  old  she,  who  afterwards 
charged  my  companion  and  was  killed,  and 
we  also  got  the  yearling. 

Another  young  grizzly  which  I  killed 
dropped  to  the  first  bullet,  which  entered  its 
stomach.  It  then  let  myself  and  my  com- 
panion approach  closely,  looking  up  at  us 
with  alert  curiosity,  but  making  no  effort  to 
escape.  It  was  really  not  crippled  at  all,  but 
we  thought  from  its  actions  that  its  back  was 
broken,  and  my  companion  foolishly  advanced 
to  kill  it  with  his  pistol.  The  pistol,  however, 
did  not  inflict  a  mortal  wound,  and  the  only 
effect  was  to  make  the  young  liear  jump  to 
its  feet  as  if  unhurt,  and  race  off  at  full  speed 
through  the  timber ;  for  though  aot  full-grown 
it  was  beyond  cubhood,  being  probably  about 
eighteen  months  old.  By  desperate  running 
I  succeeded  in  getting  another  shot,  and  more 
by  luck  than  anything  else  knocked  it  over, 
this  time  permanently. 

Black  bear  are  not,  under  normal  condi- 
tions, formidable  brutes.    They  are  not  nearly 

233 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

so  apt  to  charge  as  is  a  wild  hog ;  but  if 
they  do  charge  and  get  home  they  will  maul 
a  man  severely,  and  there  are  a  number  of 
instances  on  record  in  which  they  have  killed 
men.  Ordinarily,  however,  a  black  bear  will 
not  charge  at  all,  though  he  may  bluster  a 
good  deal.  I  once  shot  one  very  close  up 
which  made  a  most  lamentable  outcry,  and 
seemed  to  lose  its  head,  its  efforts  to  escape 
resulting  in  its  bouncing  about  among  the 
trees  with  such  heedless  hurry  that  I  was 
easily  able  to  kill  it.  Another  black  bear, 
which  I  also  shot  at  close  quarters,  came 
straight  for  my  companions  and  myself,  and 
almost  ran  over  the  white  hunter  who  was 
with  me.  This  bear  made  no  sound  what- 
ever when  I  first  hit  it,  and  I  do  not  think 
it  was  charging.  I  believe  it  was  simply 
dazed,  and  by  accident  ran  the  wrong  way, 
and  so  almost  came  into  collision  with  us. 
However,  when  it  found  itself  face  to  face 
with  the  white  hunter,  and  only  four  or  five 
feet  away,  it  prepared  for  hostilities,  and  I 
think  would  have  mauled  him  if  I  had  not 
brained  it  with  another  bullet ;  for  I  was 
myself  standing  but  six  feet  or  so  to  one 
side  of  it. 

234 


I 


Bear  Traits 

Ordinarily,  however,  my  experience  has  been 
that  bears  were  not  flurried  when  I  suddenly 
came  upon  them.  They  impressed  me  as  if 
they  were  always  keeping  in  mind  the  place 
toward  which  they  wished  to  retreat  in  the 
event  of  danger,  and  for  this  place,  which  was 
invariably  a  piece  of  rough  ground  or  dense 
timber,  they  made  off  with  all  possible  speed, 
not  seeming  to  lost  their  heads. 

Frequently  I  have  been  able  to  watch  bears 
for  some  time  while  myself  unobserved.  With 
other  game  I  have  very  often  done  this  even 
when  within  close  range,  not  wishing  to  kill 
creatures  needlessly,  or  without  a  good  object ; 
but  with  bears,  my  experience  has  been  that 
chances  to  secure  them  come  so  seldom  as  to 
make  it  very  distinctly  worth  while  improving 
any  that  do  come,  and  I  have  not  spent  much 
time  watching  any  bear  unless  he  was  in  a 
place  where  I  could  not  get  at  him,  or  else 
was  so  close  at  hand  that  I  was  not  afraid 
of  his  getting  away.  On  one  occasion  the 
bear  was  hard  at  work  digging  up  squirrel  or 
gopher  caches  on  the  side  of  a  pine-clad  hill. 
He  looked  rather  like  a  big  badger  when  so 
engaged.  On  two  other  occasions  the  bear 
was  working  around  a  carcass  preparatory  to 

235 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

burying  it.  On  these  occasions  I  was  very 
close,  and  it  was  extremely  interesting  to  note 
the  grotesque,  half  human  movements,  and 
giant,  awkward  strength  of  the  great  beast. 
He  would  twist  the  carcass  around  with  the 
utmost  ease,  sometimes  taking  it  in  his  teeth 
and  dragging  it,  at  other  times  grasping  it  in 
his  forepaws  and  half  lifting,  half  shoving  it. 
Once  the  bear  lost  his  grip  and  rolled  over 
during  the  course  of  some  movement,  and  this 
made  him  angry,  and  he  struck  the  carcass 
a  savage  whack,  just  as  a  pettish  child  will 
strike  a  table  against  which  it  has  knocked 
itself. 

At  another  time  I  watched  a  black  bear 
some  distance  off  getting  his  breakfast  under 
stumps  and  stones.  He  was  very  active, 
turning  the  stone  or  log  over,  and  then 
thrusting  his  muzzle  into  the  empty  space  to 
gobble  up  the  small  creatures  below  before 
they  recovered  from  the  surprise  and  the  sud- 
den inflow  of  light.  From  under  one  log  he 
put  up  a  chipmunk,  and  danced  hither  and 
thither  with  even  more  agility,  than  awkward- 
ness, slapping  at  the  chipmunk  with  his  paw 
while    it   zigzagged    about,  until    finally    he 

scooped  it  into  his  mouth. 

236 


Bear  Traits 

The  Yellowstone  Park  now  presents  the  best 
chance  for  observing  the  habits  of  bears  that 
has  ever  been  offered,  for  though  they  are 
wild  in  theory,  yet  in  practice  they  have  come 
to  frequenting  the  hotels  at  dusk  and  after 
nightfall,  as  if  they  were  half  tame  at  least; 
and  it  is  earnestly  to  be  wished  that  some 
Boone  and  Crockett  member  who,  unlike  the 
present  writer,  does  not  belong  to  the  labor- 
ing classes,  would  devote  a  month  or  two,  or 
indeed  a  whole  season,  to  the  serious  study 
of  the  life  history  of  these  bears.  It  would  be 
time  very  well  spent. 

Theodore  Roosevelt, 


) 


MODERN    BEAR   BAITING 

Watching  at  a  bait  for  game  is  intrinsically 
a  much  lower  form  of  sport  than  stalking  it. 
There  is  no  opportunity  for  the  prolonged 
generalship  and  shifting  of  tactics  which  lend 
to  the  stalking  of  mountain  sheep,  for  in- 
stance, such  fascinating  interest.  But  to  the 
modern  hunter  of  bears  in  the  West,  especi- 
ally in  the  autumn,  there  is  practically  no 
other   method    open.      Instead   of  the  easy- 

237 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


'.,    I 


going  bully  of  half  a  century  ago,  the  hunter 
has  now  to  find  and  outwit  the  most  timid  of 
nocturnal  animals ;  a  beast  which  clings  to 
secluded  recesses  of  wooded  mountains,  and 
can  be  tempted  from  its  lair  before  nightfall 
only  by  the  most  alluring  appeals  to  its  ap- 
petite. In  the  course  of  nine  trips  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  each  of  which  was  spent 
in  a  country  where  bears  were  fairly  plenti- 
ful, hunting  with  the  utmost  care  and  patience 
of  which  I  was  capable,  I  have,  without  the 
aid  of  bait,  seen  them  but  twice. 

In  the  northeastern  provinces  of  Canada, 
on  the  other  hand,  where  the  bears  in  the 
season  live  mainly  upon  blueberries,  and 
where  forest  shelter  is  always  close  by,  I 
should  say  that  though  equally  timid,  they 
were  much  more  given  to  feeding  by  day- 
light, and  the  hunter  can  often  have  the  finest 
kind  of  fair  stalking. 

But  in  spite  of  its  shortcomings,  hunting 
with  bait  has  features  which  make  it  a  very 
absorbing  sport.  The  careful  watcher  has 
unusual  opportunities  for  studying  the  habits 
and  actions  of  his  game ;  though  the  tactics 
of  his  sport  are  simple,  he  will  need  all  the 

patient,  thoughtful  strategy  he  can  muster; 

238 


; 


iiunter 
mid  of 
igs  to 
js,  and 
[ghtfall 
its  ap- 

to  the 
i  spent 

plenti- 
)atience 
out  the 

Canada, 
in   the 
ies,   and 
by.  I 
d,  they 
by  day- 
tie  finest 

hunting 
t  a  very 
her  has 
He  habits 
e  tactics 
1  all  the 
muster ; 


Bear  Traits 

and  finally,  when  his  bear  is  the  grizzly,  there 
is  the  ever  thrilling,  if  remote,  chance  of  a 
charge.  That  chance  seems  far  less  remote 
when  you  are  creeping  down  into  some  tangled 
ravine  to  meet  your  antagonist  ravening  at  his 
food  in  the  deepening  twilight,  than  it  would 
if  you  could  stalk  him  in  the  open  at  midday 
and  between  meals. 

I  have  never  been  actually  charged  by  a 
bear.  Twice  my  companion  has  thought  he 
saw  one  feint  or  bluster  at  us.  But  on  each 
occasion  I  was  either  busy  with  my  rifle  or 
attributed  the  motion  to  other  causes.  So  I 
cannot  speak  from  experience  of  the  bear 
hunter's  grand  sensation — that  of  withstand- 
ing an  assault. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  had  several  rather 
unusual  chances  of  watching  a  bear  approach 
his  bait.  And  I  have  also  committed  about 
every  error  of  omission  and  commission  by 
which  the  poor  finite  human  being  can  betray 
his  plans  and  purposes  to  the  almost  infinite 
sagacity  of  the  creature  he  flatters  himself  he 
is  going  to  outwit.  Out  of  those  countless 
blunders,  theories  of  action  have  of  necessity 
been  hammered  into  me,  some  of  which  may 
possibly  be  useful  to  others.     But  to  avoid 

339 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


coloring  facts  too  much  with  theory  it  may  be 
well  to  state  the  facts  first. 

In  the  summer  of  1886  I  spent  my  college 
vacation  hunting  with  a  Micmac  Indian  on 
the  headwaters  of  a  New  Brunswick  river.  I 
had  stalked  and  killed  a  lean  old  black  bear 
on  one  of  the  small  mountains  that  bordered 
the  river  near  our  camp,  and  so  much  of  his 
carcass  as  we  had  not  carried  off  for  our 
larder,  lay  among  the  low  blueberry  bushes 
near  the  summit.  About  a  week  later  we 
climbed  up  to  it  again,  and  found  that  it  had 
been  partly  devoured  by  another  bear.  It 
was  in  August.  Blueberries  were  ripe  and 
marvelously  plentiful.  The  new  bear  thus 
could  not  have  been  driven  to  cannibalism  by 
those  pangs  of  hunger  by  which  some  writers 
have  thought  it  necessary  to  explain  such  an 
act.  J 

It  was  about  ten  in  the  morning  when  we 
reached  the  carcass.  Nicholas,  the  Indian, 
examined  the  carcass  from  above.  I  incau- 
tiously walked  once  around  and  below  it, 
looking  for  the  new  bear's  trail.  We  then  re- 
tired to  another  spur  of  the  mountain,  whence 
at   a   distance  of  about  300  yards  we  could 

command  the  whole  hillside  on  which  the  car- 

240 


) 


ay  be 

Dllege 
in  on 
er.     1 
:  bear 
•dered 
of  his 
►r   our 
Dushes 
ter  we 
it  had 
ir.      It 
e   and 
thus 
ism  by 
riters 
ch  an 


len  we 

Indian, 
incau- 

low  it, 
len  re- 
rhence 
could 

Ihe  car- 


Bear  Traits 

cass  lay.  Our  plan  was  to  let  the  bear  get  at 
the  bait,  and  then  stalk  it  as  we  had  stalked 
its  predecessor.  From  the  spot  where  the 
bait  lay  it  would  have  been  impossible,  on 
account  of  the  bushes,  to  see  anything  ap- 
proaching. 

The  wind  blew  strongly  up  that  hillside 
all  day  long ;  so  strongly  that  we  lay  in  com- 
parative comfort  in  a  place  where  the  week 
before  the  black  flies  had  made  life  a  torment. 
At  about  four  o'clock  we  saw  a  large  bear 
coming  up  the  hill,  several  hundred  yards 
below  the  carcass.  It  came  slowly  but  stead- 
ily, and  without  stopping,  until  it  reached  the 
exact  spot  where  I  had  circled  around  the 
bait  — a  spot  easily  distinguishable  by  reason 
of  an  opening  in  the  bushes.  Then  it  stopped, 
and  its  nose  went  down  to  the  ground. 

"  He  smell  your  track,"  hissed  a  wrathful 
voice  in  my  ear.  The  bear  turned,  and 
started  slowly  down  ;  so  slowly  that,  hoping  it 
might  stop  or  turn  back,  I  refrained  from 
taking  the  long  shot  which  Nicholas  was  urg- 
ing upon  me.  In  a  few  yards,  when  it  was 
well  out  of  sight  of  the  bait,  though  still  in 
full  view  of  us,  its  pace  quickened  to  a  trot, 

and  then  in  a  second  it  was  plunging  down 

341 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

the  hillside  at  a  mad  gallop.  From  first  to 
last  it  did  not  see  or  hear  us,  I  am  confident. 
In  the  early  morning  we  had  seen  from  camp 
a  bear  with  a  cub  wandering  over  the  samv. 
hilltop,  and  as  we  dejectedly  tramped  down 
that  afternoon,  we  heard  a  cub  squall  in  the 
direction  taken  by  the  running  bear;  so  I 
have  no  doubt  that  our  conqueror  was  a 
female. 

Four  years  afterward  I  was  hunting,  during 
August  and  September,  on  the  main  range  of 
the  Rockies  between  Steamboat  Springs  and 
North  Park,  Colorado.  Bears  were  still  there 
in  good  numbers,  and  our  party  of  three — Mr. 
A.  P.  Proctor  and  Dr.  John  Rogers  were  with 
me — secured  seven  of  them  that  summer, 
counting  all  sizes  and  colors.  One  of  my 
baits  lay  in  the  center  of  an  open  meadow, 
bordering  a  stream  which  ran  sharply  down- 
ward through  a  deep  wooded  valley  leading 
off  the  great  range  toward  the  low  country  on 
the  west.  I  had  expected  to  watch  it  from  a 
spur  of  the  forest  on  the  side  of  the  meadow ; 
but  on  coming  to  inspect  it  one  morning  I 
found  that  it  had  been  picked  up  by  a  bear  on 
the  previous  night,  dragged  across  the  mea- 
dow, and  left  on  the  edge  of  the  woods  at  the 

242 


/ 


■St  to 
ident. 
camp 
same 
down 
in  thti 
so  I 
was  a 

during 
.nge  of 
gs  and 
II  there 
e— Mr. 
re  with 
Limmer, 

of  my 
leadow, 

down- 
leading 

ntry  on 

from  a 
leadow ; 
»rning  I 

bear  on 
he  mea- 

s  at  the 


Bear  Traits 

very  point  from  which  I  had  expected  to 
watch.  Closer  examination  showed  that  the 
bear,  instead  of  coming  up  the  valley  from 
below,  as  I  had  expected,  had  entered  and  left 
the  meadow  close  by  the  watching  point,  and 
that  in  coming  I  had  already  unwittingly 
crossed  its  trail. 

With  the  experience  in  New  Brunswick  just 
mentioned  sharply  before  me,  I  studied  the 
situation.  One  thing  was  certain :  I  must  be 
there  before  him,  for  he  would  be  likely  to 
bolt  as  soon  as  he  crossed  my  trail.  At  the 
same  time  it  was  now  impossible  to  wait  for 
him  at  the  watching  point,  for  the  wind  would 
almost  certainly  give  him  my  scent  as  he  came 
down  behind  me  through  the  woods.  Out  in 
the  meadow  there  was  no  shelter  near  enough 
to  shoot  from.  I  finally  reasoned  that  if  he 
bolted  directly  back  on  his  trail,  I  could 
scarcely  hope  for  a  good  shot  under  any  ar- 
rangement. But,  as  his  trail  led  sharply  up 
hill,  there  was  a  good  chance  that,  instead  of 
turning  back,  he  might  head  for  some  dense 
cover  down  at  one  of  the  extremities  of  the 
meadow.  I  therefore  chose  a  point  near  that 
cover,  but  so  situated  that  I  could  witness  the 
whole  performance,  and  if  he  didn't  bolt  at  all 

243 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

would  have  a  fairly  good  chance  to  stalk  him 
at  the  bait. 

Shortly  before  sunset,  my  eye  caught  the 
glint  of  the  sun's  rays  on  something  moving 
through  the  forest  that  clothed  the  side  of  the 
mountain  above  the  meadow,  and  presently  I 
made  out  a  small  black  bear  cantering  down 
the  trail  I  had  crossed  in  the  morning.  When 
he  reached  my  crossing,  or  its  immediate 
neighborhood  —  a  bush  prevented  me  from 
seeing  clearly  —  there  was  a  few  seconds* 
pause,  and  then  he  came  scudding  like  a 
frightened  cat  away  from  the  bait,  and  down 
the  meadow  toward  the  cover  near  which  I 
was  lying  hidden. 

So  far  the  game  had  worked  out  according 
to  calculations,  and,  with  an  inward  smile  of 
satisfaction,  I  sat  up  to  take  a  smooth  running 
shot  about  ninety  yards  away.  Too  sure ! 
Just  as  my  finger  squeezed  the  trigger,  he 
stopped  dead  short — perhaps  having  seen  me 
rise — and  after  an  ineffective  attempt  to  check 
my  rifle,  my  bullet  ploughed  well  in  front  and 
clear  of  him.  He  was  in  the  cover  and  out  of 
sight  before  I  could  shoot  again,  and  Proctor 
and  Rogers,  watching  together  in  another  val- 
ley, wondered,  after  the  distant  solitary  report, 

244 


Bear  Traits 


whether  I  was  being  gobbled  by  an  angry 
grizzly. 

I  dragged  the  bait  back  to  its  old  position 
under  a  solitary  dead  spruce  stub  in  the  cen- 
ter of  'he  meadow,  and  reinforced  its  attrac- 
tions with  some  more  choice  dainties.  Every 
night  for  several  in  succession,  it  was  visited 
by  a  bear,  but  always  during  the  darkness.  I 
watched  each  evening  until  my  sights  went 
out,  and  was  there  again  at  daybreak,  only  to 
find  a  diminished  bait  and  no  bear.  When 
you  feed  a  creature  for  any  length  of  time  you 
are  apt  to  acquire  a  sense  of  proprietorship  in 
it,  and  I  came  quite  to  feel  as  if  I  had  a 
brand  on  that  bear.  But  the  work  was  hard, 
and  my  patience  began  to  run  low.  Finally, 
one  afternoon  I  was  delayed  in  starting  for 
the  bait  until  almost  sunset.  Though  I  hur- 
ried my  horse  down  the  three  or  four  miles  of 
rough  mountain  before  me,  the  evening  shad- 
ows gained  so  rapidly  that  when  I  finally 
leaped  ofif  to  tie  him  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above 
the  bait,  it  was  almost  dark.  Looking  back 
from  a  hundred  yards  away,  the  pony  was  in- 
distinguishable against  the  woods  that  bor- 
dered the  meadow  where  I  had  tied  him.  In 
my  tennis   slippers   I   trotted  silently  down 

345 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

through  the  woods  to  a  new  watch  point  per- 
haps ninety  yards  from  the  old  spruce  stub. 
When  I  reached  it,  it  was  so  dark  that  even 
out  in  the  open  the  little  bushes  made  mere 
black  blotches  against  the  lighter  meadow 
grass.  Under  the  old  stub  I  could  distinguish 
nothing.  But,  as  I  stood  there  in  the  silent 
crisp  air  there  came  the  sound  of  something 
crunching  and  cracking  at  the  old  elk  ribs. 
The  rascal  was  stealing  my  bait  again ! 

I  slipped  down  off  the  watching  point,  stole 
around  behind  a  low  ridge  of  rock  and  ran 
down  under  cover  of  that  to  its  further  point, 
distant  some  thirty  yards  from  the  spruce 
stub.  The  bait  lay  on  the  other  side  of  the 
stub  from  me  now,  and  anything  feeding  was 
hidden  by  some  bushes  which  grew  around  its 
base. 

With  my  rifle  at  the  ready  I  sprinted  across 
this  remaining  distance.  When  almost  there 
I  stumbled  over  a  dead  stick  in  the  long  mea- 
dow grass  and  nearly  fell.  Instantly  a  large 
dark  object  leaped  to  the  right  from  the 
bushes,  and  made  off  for  the  woods.  As  soon 
as  I  could  straighten  up  I  threw  a  bullet  after 
it,  much  as  one  would  throw  a  stone  after  a 

dog.     At  the  shot  a  second  black  form,  ap- 

246 


per- 
stub. 
even 
mere 
adow 
guish 
silent 
thing 

ribs. 

stole 
d  ran 
point, 
spruce 
of  the 
ig  was 

nd  its 


Bear  Traits 

parently  smaller,  and,  I  think,  a  yearling  or 
two-year  old  black  bear,  raced  out  of  the 
bushes  on  the  other  side,  and  escaped  without 
a  shot.  Furious  at  losing  both,  I  rushed  into 
the  bushes  to  see  if  there  were  any  more,  and 
a  third,  a  cub,  with  a  yelp  of  dismay,  for  I  had 
nearly  trodden  on  him,  scuttled  up  the  spruce 
stub.  Walking  around  until  I  got  him  against 
the  light  in  the  western  sky,  I  am  sorry  to  say 
I  shot  and  killed  him.  He  was  no  larger  than 
a  collie  dog,  and  might  much  better  have  been 
left  to  grow.  Though  she  must  have  heard 
him,  and  had  the  darkness  to  cover  her  ap- 
proach, his  faithless  mother  never  returned, 
but  by  her  rapid  flight  helped  to  dispel  in  my 
mind  another  historic  illusion  as  to  the  invari- 
able ferocity  of  she-bears. 

Of  course  bears  are  not  always  so  timid 
about  the  scent  of  man  as  in  thfi  two  cases  I 
have  mentioned.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
those  were,  perhaps,  rather  exceptional.  Sev- 
eral times  I  have  known  grizzly  bears,  and 
oncr^  a  black — which  in  my  experience  has 
appeared  to  be  the  more  cautious  species — to 
come  boldly  to  baits  around  which  our  scent 
must  have  been  much  more  in  evidence  than 
at  either  of  the  times  just  mentioned.     At  the 

347 


; 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

same  time  the  hunter  is  obliged  to  gauge  his 
plans  by  the  intelligence  of  the  most,  and  not 
the  least,  wary.  He  must,  therefore,  be  always 
able  to  inspect  his  bait,  to  see  whether  it  has 
been  touched,  without  leaving  a  trail  which 
will  be  crossed  by  the  bear  when  returning. 

The  greatest  danger  to  success,  however,  is 
that  your  game  will  actually  scent  you  while 
you  are  waiting  for  it.  It  is  not  always  flat- 
tering to  a  gentleman's  feelings  to  observe  the 
rapidity  with  which  a  beast,  which  has  only 
been  pleased  and  attracted  by  the  overpower- 
ing stench  of  the  carcass  beside  you,  will  be 
put  to  headlong  flight  by  the  faintest  whiff  of 
you.  But  one  can  count  with  the  utmost 
positiveness  on  that  result. 

The  problem  of  avoiding  this  is  complicated 
by  two  uncertainties — that  of  the  direction 
from  which  the  bear  will  come,  and  that  of  the 
direction  from  which  the  wind  will  blow  at  the 
time  when  he  comes.  So  far  as  possible  these 
two  uncertainties  must  be  eliminated  before- 
hand. The  first  must  be  carefully  studied  out 
from  the  facts  of  each  case — such  as  the  direc- 
tion of  the  nearest  dense  cover  and  water,  and 
the  general  lay  of  the  land.     By  placing  one's 

bait  rather  high  up  in  a  mountainous  country 

248 


; 


Bear  Traits 

you  can  usually  force  your  bear  to  approach 
from  below,  and  you  can  generally  count  on 
his  following  the  cover  afforded  by  ravines 
and  watercourses. 

As  regards  the  wind,  one  must  constantly 
bear  in  mind  the  fact,  which  every  hunter  in  a 
hilly  or  mountainous  country  must  have  no- 
ticed, namely,  that  in  the  absence  of  a  very 
strong  prevailing  wind,  the  air  regularly  draws 
up  a  valley  or  gulch  during  the  daytime  only 
to  chop  around  and  draw  down  directly  the 
sun  has  set.  As  your  watching  period  must 
cover  the  time  both  just  before  and  after  sun- 
set, your  watch  point  must  be  so  arranged 
that  the  bear  will  not  get  your  scent  with  the 
wind  in  either  of  those  directions.  Add  to 
this  changeable  nature  of  the  breeze,  the  well- 
known  fact  that  a  wary  bear  will  usually  take 
a  quiet  circle  through  the  woods  all  around 
the  bait  before  going  to  it,  and  the  complex 
elements  of  the  problem  become  apparent. 

To  solve  it,  some  people  recommend  watch- 
ing from  a  tree.  This  probably  would  be 
effective  in  removing  your  scent,  but  it  would 
also  go  far  toward  removing  the  last  vestige 
of  manliness  from  the   sport,  and  though   I 

have  sometimes  compromised  on  a  steep  slope 

249 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

or  rock,  I  confess  I  could  never  quite  go  a 
tree. 

There  is  another  way,  though,  of  avoiding 
the  difficulty,  which,  I  think,  rather  adds  to 
than  diminishes  the  excitement  and  interest  of 
bait-hunting.  That  is  to  let  the  bear  satisfy 
his  suspicions,  and  get  actually  at  the  bait 
before  you  make  your  approach.  To  do  this 
successfully,  one  should  choose,  if  possible, 
two  posts  of  vantage,  one  at  a  comparatively 
long  distance — two  or  three  hundred  yards — 
from  the  bait,  to  watch  from,  and  the  other 
forty  or  fifty  yards  away,  to  shoot  from. 
These  should,  of  course,  be  carefully  chosen 
with  a  view  to  the  lay  of  the  land  and  the 
bear's  probable  approach,  and  a  path  between 
them  should  then  be  carefully  selected,  by 
which  the  hunter  can  steal  down  to  the  shoot- 
ing point  as  soon  as  he  sees  from  the  watch- 
ing point  that  the  bear  has  begun  his  meal. 
Then,  creeping  down  on  his  quarry,  one  can 
bring  to  use  all  the  caution  of  the  still-hunter, 
and  even  much  of  the  stalker's  skill,  while  at 
the  final  shot  he  meets  his  adversary  on  a  fair 
field. 

I  recall  a  hunt  when  I  tried  this  arrange- 
ment, however,  which  will  serve  to  show  the 

350 


/ 


Bear  Traits 

necessity  of  care  in  the  choice  of  position,  for 
other  reasons  than  the  shyness  of  the  bears. 
It  is  not  a  pleasant  hunt  for  me  to  recall,  for 
it  contained  the  best  and  most  misused  oppor- 
tunity I  ever  had. 

I  was  camping  in  northwestern  Montana, 
in  a  country  whose  magnificent  mountains  and 
glaciers  had  for  three  years  caused  me  to  dis- 
card bear-hunting  for  the  superior  pleasures  of 
mountaineering.  My  wife  and  I  were  alone, 
except  for  our  man  Fox  and  his  eighteen-year- 
old  boy.  Toward  the  end  of  our  trip  an 
Indian  friend,  who  had  joined  us  for  a  few 
days'  visit,  rather  unnecessarily  killed  a  fine 
old  mountain  goat.  The  meat  was,  of  course, 
rank  and  uneatable,  and  as  we  had  seen  bear 
signs  five  or  six  miles  down  the  valley,  at  the 
head  of  which  we  were  camped,  in  order  not 
to  waste  it,  I  asked  Fox  to  pack  the  carcass 
down  there,  and  arrange  a  bear  bait.  He  had 
never  hunted  bears  with  bait,  but  I  explained 
to  him  the  method  I  have  just  described,  and 
asked  him  if  possible  to  arrange  the  bait  so  as 
to  conform  to  it.  He  was  gone  all  day,  and 
on  his  return  in  the  evening  said  that  he  had 
found  a  place  where  he  was  certain  the  bait 
would  be  visited,  but  that  he  was  not  quite 

251 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

satisfied  with  the  shooting  and  watch  points. 
He  is  such  an  habitually  modest  man  that  I 
did  not  give  this  remark  full  weight  at  the  time. 

The  next  day  we  moved  our  camp  some  six 
miles  down  the  valley,  so  as  to  be  a  little 
nearer  the  bait,  and  a  little  further  from  the 
great  glacier  at  the  valley's  head,  whose  pro- 
pensity for  collecting  storms  was  getting  to  be 
a  little  monotonous.  After  camp  had  been 
pitched,  I  decided  to  go  over  with  Fox  to  the 
bait,  mainly  because  Fox  was  anxious  to  have 
me  see  whether  it  had  been  properly  arranged. 
As  he  had  left  it  only  the  day  before,  and  had 
tramped  all  over  the  place  where  it  was  with 
two  horses,  we  had  no  idea  that  it  had  yet 
been  visited. 

It  had  been  rather  a  bad  day  for  me. 
While  coming  down  the  valley  my  scatter- 
brained pony,  in  trying  to  clear  a  windfall  had 
thrown  himself  heavily  with  me  underneath, 
and,  though  I  luckily  escaped  injury,  the 
shock  had  given  me  a  racking  headache.  So 
I  followed  Fox  rather  mechanically  as  he 
threaded  his  way  through  the  quaking  aspens 
that  clothed  the  mpuntain  side  on  which  the 
bait  lay.    A  fierce  wind  was  blowing  down  the 

valley,  and,  while  the  sky  was  clear  overhead, 

252 


/ 


Bear  Traits 

it  dashed  a  fine  horizontal  spray  into  our  faces 
from  the  storm  that  still  overhung  the  great 
glacier  seven  or  eight  miles  distant.  The  bait 
was  further  than  we  had  counted,  and  when 
Fox  finally  slid  from  his  horse,  the  sun  had 
already  dropped  into  the  cloudbank  at  the 
valley's  head.  Picketing  the  ponies,  we  ran 
down  to  an  open  knoll,  which  Fox  said  was  the 
watch  point.  From  its  foot  a  dry  brook-bed 
ran  down  through  a  sparse  half-burnt  second 
growth  of  woods  to  a  little  meadow,  which 
could  only  be  partly  seen,  some  three  hundred 
yards  away.  '*  The  bait  lies  in  that  meadow," 
said  Fox,  "  near  that  large  bush." 

I  studied  it  carefully  through  my  field  glass. 
The  light  in  the  meadow  was  already  rather 
dim,  and  the  bushes  looked  gray,  but  I  could 
see  nothing  that  looked  like  a  bear.  I  could 
not,  however,  even  clearly  distinguish  the  bait. 
Fox  took  the  glass.  "  There's  nothing  there," 
he  said.  "  Let's  go  down,  and  see  how  you 
fastened  it,  anyway,"  I  proposed.  A  goa^'c- 
carcass  being  so  small.  Fox  had  tied  it  to  a 
log  to  prevent  it  from  being  dragged  bodily 
away. 

Fox  led  the  way  down  the  dry  brook-bed. 
It  was  five  or  six  feet  deep,  and  made  capital 

253 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

cover  for  one's  approach.  Finally  he  stopped, 
and  motioned  to  me  to  go  ahead.  *'  The 
watch  point  is  just  around  that  bend,"  he 
whispered.  I  stepped  around  it,  and  there 
the  brook-bed  debouched  into  the  meadow. 
Just  at  its  mouth  was  a  small  pile  of  brush, 
arranged  by  Fox  as  a  cover.  I  looked  over 
it,  and  saw,  about  fifty  yards  away,  a  grizzly 
bear,  standing  quartering  toward  me  and  my 
left,  with  his  forefeet  resting  on  something 
hidden  in  the  bushes  below  it — apparently  the 
bait.  The  meadow,  which  had  seemed  to  be 
grassy  from  above,  now  showed  itself  waist- 
high  with  sarvice  berry  bushes.  The  cham- 
ber of  my  rifle  was  still  unloaded,  and  I  threw 
a  shell  into  it;  Fox  had  no  gun.  The  front 
white  Lyman  bead  came  clearly  against  the 
bear's  left  shoulder,  and  I  pulled.  She  went 
down  with  a  mufifled  roar,  and  lay  out  of  sight 
in  the  bushes,  still  roaring  and  groaning. 

Instantly  another  large  bear  rose  on  its 
hind  feet  from  behind  a  bush  in  the  center  of 
the  meadow,  while  a  third  rushed  into  it  from 
the  woods  on  the  right.  To  my  startled  im- 
agination the  meadow  seemed  to  be  sprouting 
with  grizzlies.  The  fellow  in  the  center,  to 
judge  from  his  tracks,  must  have  stood  over 

254 


/ 


Bear  Traits 

six  feet  high  ;  he  looked  about  ten.  It  was 
already  too  dusky  to  see  clearly  the  rear  Ly- 
man sight.  I  had  noticed  that  on  my  first 
shot ;  but  I  threw  a  bullet  at  this  second  bear 
without  looking  through  my  sights  at  all — 
just  as  you  would  shoot  at  a  flying  quail. 
And  as  both  bears  rushed  off  into  the  woods 
on  the  left  together,  I  pumped  two  more  shots 
after  them,  like  the  veriest  tenderfoot. 

Then,  just  as  they  disappeared,  I  noticed 
that  the  wounded  bear  was  on  its  feet,  and 
plunging  heavily  off,  with  its  shoulder  swing- 
ing loose,  somewhat  further  down  the  meadow 
than  where  the  others  had  gone.  I  remember 
the  sickening  thought  came  over  me — "  I  shall 
lose  them  all " — and  pulling  myself  somewhat 
together,  I  made  a  good  shot  at  her  just  as 
she  reached  the  woods.  She  seemed  to  fall  in 
a  heap  at  the  edge  of  some  willows.  Fox, 
standing  beside  me,  said :  "  You've  got  that 
one  all  right." 

Shoving  some  more  cartridges  into  my 
magazine  as  I  ran,  I  hurried  into  the  woods 
after  the  other  two  bears,  passing  just  above, 
and  where  I  could  hear  but  not  see  the 
wounded  bear  growling  and  thrashing  in  the 
thick  willows.     I  ran  over  the  top  of  the  little 

255 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

hill  over  which  they  had  gone,  and  almost  ran 
into  them,  standing  there  together  among  the 
sparse  "quaken  ash."  One  rose  to  its  hind- 
legs,  and  I  missed  it  again — how,  even  with- 
out sights,  I  don't  know  ;  I  could  almost  have 
poked  it  with  my  gun.  They  wheeled,  and 
raced  into  the  bushes  behind  them,  and,  seeing 
that  I  had  missed,  I  went  back  to  Fox  to  look 
for  the  wounded  bear. 

She  was  not  where  she  had  fallen,  and  her 
noise  had  stopped.  It  was  already  quite  dark 
under  the  willow  bushes.  We  circled  closely 
all  around  them,  peering  beneath.  They  were 
only  a  small  patch  lying  on  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  and  we  could  see  everything  except 
the  very  center,  which  could  only  be  reached 
on  hands  and  knees.  We  decided  to  leave  that 
part  till  morning.  Then,  after  looking  also 
through  the  surrounding  woods,  I  sent  Fox 
back  for  the  horses,  and  watched  beside  the 
bushes  for  the  twenty  minutes  or  so  that  he 
was  gone.  Nothing  more  stirred,  and  we 
rode  back  to  camp. 

It  rained  hard  all  night,  and  it  was  still 

raining  heavily  when,  long  before  daylight,  we 

returned  with  young  Fox  to  the  bait.     There 

is  no  need  of  dwelling  on  the  disappointment 

256 


f 


ost  ran 
Dng  the 
ts  hind- 
;n  with- 
)st  have 
.ed,  and 
i,  seeing 
:  to  look 

and  her 
Liite  dark 
d  closely 
hey  were 
re  of  the 
g  except 
;  reached 
eave  that 
cing  also 
sent  Fox 
eside  the 
0  that  he 
and  we 

was  still 
ylight,  we 
There 
)ointment 


Bear  Traits 

of  that  morning.  There  was  no  bear  under 
the  bushes,  and  whatever  blood  she  had  left 
on  her  trail  had  long  since  been  washed  away. 
We  quartered  over  the  surrounding  woods, 
foot  by  foot,  for  five  or  six  hours.  Then  I 
sent  the  men  home,  and  continued  it  till  after- 
noon. After  I  had  got  something  to  eat  and 
some  dry  clothes,  I  found  it  impossible  to  stay 
in  camp,  and  decided  to  watch  the  bait  again 
that  evening. 

Just  before  sunset  I  struck  into  the  dry 
brook-bed  below  the  watch  point,  and  fol- 
lowed it  carefully  down  to  the  bend.  Look- 
ing around  it,  I  again  saw  two  grizzlies  with 
their  heads  down  at  the  goat's  carcass — evi- 
dently the  same  two  bears  that  had  escaped 
the  night  before.  Setting  my  teeth,  I  deter- 
mined to  take  no  more  chances  with  a  .45-90 
at  a  bear's  body,  but  to  rest  my  rifle  over  the 
brush,  and  make  a  steady  shot  for  the  head. 
The  brush  pile  was  about  ten  feet  away. 
Dropping  on  hands  and  knees  I  crawled  to 
it,  and  then  cautiously  rose  up.  They  could 
not  have  seen  me,  but  some  whirl  of  air  had 
evidently  given  them  my  scent,  for  they  were 
both  moving  across  the  meadow  toward  the 
place  where  they  had  left  it  before.     One  was 

257 


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Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

running  steadily,  but  the  other  half  stopped  at 
intervals  to  rear  and  take  a  quick  look  over 
the  bushes  in  my  direction. 

I  stood  up  for  a  running  shot,  and  as  he 
reared  the  second  time,  I  drove  my  bullet  at 
his  great  chest  with  all  the  steadiness  the 
quick  shot  would  allow.  With  a  snarl  like 
that  of  a  fighting  dog,  he  went  over  backward. 
He  was  on  his  feet  again  so  quickly  that  it 
looked  to  me  as  if  he  had  turned  a  back  som- 
ersault, and  racing  after  his  companion,  caught 
him  up  within  forty  yards,  in  his  haste  seem- 
ing almost  to  run  over  him.  I  sighted  at  him 
again  through  the  trees,  but  held  a  shade  too 
long,  and  as  I  pulled  saw  him  sink  below  the 
hilltop,  and  felt  I  had  shot  over.  I  followed 
a  good  blood  trail  till  dark ;  and  on  the  next 
morning,  with  Fox,  followed  it  for  nearly  two 
miles,  when  we  lost  it  on  some  open  ground. 

Out  of  those  two  evenings  I  have  drawn 
several  lessons — most  of  them  derogatory  to 
myself,  and  to  the  experience  which  I  thought 
ten  seasons  of  big  game  hunting  had  left  in 
me.  But  there  were  also  some  features  for 
which  personal  failings  did  not  entirely  ac- 
count.     The   second  bear  was   probably  hit 

too  high.     I  did  not  then  realize  how  high  a 

258 


I 


Bear  Traits 

bear's  head  and  neck  tower  when  he  stands 
erect,  and  how  proportionately  low  his  heart 
and  lungs  sink  down.  Watch  one  in  Central 
Park  some  time  and  see.  I  feel  sure  the  first 
bear  did  not  live  long  after  the  shot,  and  even 
as  it  was,  with  a  good  dog  we  should  undoubt- 
edly have  recovered  her.  But  good  bear  dogs 
are  scarce,  and  dog  or  no  dog,  either  of  those 
bears  could  have  eaten  me  up,  had  it  so 
chosen.  Moreover,  I  was  sufficiently  acquaint- 
ed with  my  own  power,  to  know  that  I  could 
not  count  regularly  on  doing  better  shooting 
than  I  had  done  in  my  first  shot  at  the  first 
bear. 

I  had  used  the  .45-90  Winchester  for  five 
years,  and  was  fully  sensible  of  its  accuracy, 
flatness,  and  other  good  features.  But  I  de- 
cided to  discard  it  for  bait  hunting.  Every 
one  who  has  depended  on  its  solid  hardened 
bullet  has  seen  game  go  good  distances  even 
when  fatally  hit,  and  the  subject  of  its  merits 
and  demerits,  as  compared  with  a  hollow  point 
or  soft  lead  bullet,  has  been  so  thoroughly 
thrashed  out  of  late  that  it  is  superfluous  now 
to  go  through  it. 

Suffice  to  say,  that  I  decided  in  future  to 

use  a  special  gun  for  bait  shooting,  of  which 

259 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

one  shot  should  be  warranted  to  be  effective. 
This,  however,  was  before  smokeless  powder, 
with  its  resultant  high  velocity,  had  come  into 
sporting  use,  and  I  had  to  depend  upon  black 
powder.  The  following  winter  the  Winchester 
Company  made  me  up  a  gun  which,  I  think, 
will  fulfill  the  conditions  above  given.  It  is 
a  single  shot  .577-caliber  rifle,  shooting  167 
grains  of  powder,  and  a  6c)0-grain  bullet,  with 
a  small  hollow  in  the  point  Even  after  the 
point  breaks  off  and  scatters  there  is  over 
400  grains  of  solid  butt  left — more  than  suffi- 
cient to  break  any  bone. 

I  have  only  shot  it  at  one  animal  as  yet. 
This  was  a  rather  small  bear,  of  the  kind 
known  as  the  cinnamon  in  many  parts  of  the 
Northwest,  but  short-clawed,  and  really  a 
variety  of  black.  He  was  standing  on  all  four 
legs,  facing  me,  some  fifty  yards  away,  with 
his  head  down  at  the  bait.  At  the  shot  he 
fell  forward,  and  never  moved.  The  bullet 
entered  the  heavy  muscles  of  the  neck,  and 
passed  backward  and  downward  through  the 
thorax.  After  entering,  its  front  end  broke 
up,  and  left  a  track  through  which  I  could 
pass   my   unclenched   hand.      Fox,  who   was 

there,  looked  at  the  hole,  and  said  solemnly : 

260 


Bear  Traits 


"  If  you  had  only  had  that  gun  last  fall ! " 
The  foregoing  cases,  taken  as  examples, 
show  how  dangerous  it  is  to  generalize  too 
much  about  the  conduct  of  bears  at  a  bait. 
Individual  bears  vary  in  their  character,  just 
as  human  beings  do.  And  even  the  same 
bear  may  act  very  differently  at  different 
times.  I  remember  one  bear  stealing  up  so 
quietly,  that  two  of  us,  listening  with  all  our 
ears,  never  heard  him  until  he  reached  the 
bait.  And  the  next  night,  after  having  been 
shot  at  and  well  scared,  he  came  back  over 
the  same  course,  and  made  noise  enough  to 
rouse  the  dead. 

So  much  do  individuals  vary,  that  it  is  quite 
hard  to  recognize  regular  characteristic  differ- 
ences between  even  the  grizzly  and  the  black. 
The  grizzlies  that  I  have  seen  seemed  to  be 
bolder,  and  to  come  earlier  to  bait,  than  their 
black  cousins  in  the  West ;  but  friends  have 
told  me  of  cases  where  an  old  grizzly  was  as 
shy  and  cautious  as  a  fox.  In  the  East,  as  I 
said  before,  I  have  several  times  seen  black 
bears  feeding  at  midday.  In  nearly  every 
case  that  I  have  seen,  the  grizzly,  too,  tried  to 
bury  or  cache  his  bait.  Sometimes  this  at- 
tempt was  very  perfunctory — merely  a   few 

261 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

handfuls  of  grass  or  earth  scratched  over  it ; 
but  I  do  not  remember  a  black  bear  ever 
doing  even  so  much  as  that. 

I  should  say,  also,  that  the  two  species  dif- 
fered usually  as  well  in  theii  behavior  under 
fire.  I  have  seen  eight  grizzlies  and  six  black 
bears  shot.  Two  of  the  former  and  one  of  the 
latter  were  instantaneously  killed.  Of  the  re- 
mainder, every  one  of  the  grizzlies  bellowed 
and  roared  tremendously  when  hit,  while  every 
one  of  the  blacks,  except  the  cub  in  the 
spruce  stub  above  mentioned,  took  his  pun- 
ishment in  perfect  silence.  I  have  seen  but 
one  bear  of  any  kind,  however,  keep  its  feet 
when  struck.  Unlike  an  elk,  which  rarely 
even  flinches,  a  bear  will  nearly  always  throw 
itself  headlong,  clawing  or  biting  at  the 
wound.  The  solitary  exception  that  I  remem- 
ber was  a  black  bear  in  New  Brunswick. 
Though  fatally  hit,  she  only  flinched  slightly, 
and  withdrew  into  the  bushes  from  which 
she  had  just  appeared. 

In  this  sensitiveness  to  wounds,  the  bear 
seems  to  resemble  the  cat  tribe.  The  only 
one  :hat  I  have  ever  watched  for  any  length 
of  time,  close  by,  also  reminded  me  somewhat 

of  a  cat  in  his  motions  and  behavior.     It  was 

262 


Bear  Traits 


f 


)ver  It ; 
ir   ever 

:ies  dif- 
r  under 
[X  black 
e  of  the 
f  the  re- 
lellowed 
le  every 
in    the 
lis  pun- 
;een  but 
its  feet 
rarely 
s  throw 
at    the 
remem- 
nswick. 
jslightly, 
which 


the  small  "cinnamon"  above  mentioned,  and 
as  he  approached  the  bait  I  watched  him  for 
at  least  ten  minutes,  within  a  distance  of  a 
hundred  yards.  He  was  extremely  nervous, 
walking  very  slowly,  and  stopping  every  few 
minutes  to  look  and  listen.  At  these  times  he 
would  raise  his  head,  and  look  about  in  all 
directions.  Something  startled  him,  and  he 
dashed  sideways  half-way  up  a  leaning  tree- 
trunk,  for  all  the  world  like  a  scared  cat. 
Then  he  crept  down,  circled  slowly  around  out 
of  sight  below  the  bait,  and  I  did  not  see  him 
until  his  head  quietly  pushed  through  the 
willows,  near  which  the  bait  lay.  There  he 
stopped,  with  his  long  nose  screwed  up  in  a 
savory  anticipation,  and  it  was  a  full  minute 
before  he  finally  stepped  out  of  the  bushes, 
walked  across  the  remaining  ten  feet,  and 
began  his  meal 

Henry  L.  Stimson. 


Ihe  bear 
|he  only 

length 
Imewhat 

It  was 


263 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 


A  Convention  to  revise  and  amend  the 
Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York  was 
held  at  the  City  of  Albany  in  the  summer  of 
1894.  Among  the  changes  proposed  by  the 
Convention  was  the  addition  of  the  following 
words,  as  Section  7  of  Article  VII.  of  the  Con- 
stitution : 

"The  lands  of  the  State,  now  owned  or 
hereafter  acquired,  constituting  the  Forest 
Preserve  as  now  fixed  by  law,  shall  be  forever 
kept  as  wild  forest  lands.  They  shall  not  be 
leased,  sold  or  exchanged,  or  taken  by  any 
corporation,  public  or  private,  nor  shall  the 
timber  be  sold,  removed  or  destroyed." 

At  the  election  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 

year  the  new  Constitution  was  approved  and 

ratified  by  a  popular  vote,  and  on  the  ist  day 

of  January,   1895,  it  went  into  effect.     This 

action  by  the  people  through  their  delegates, 

and  at  the  polls,  made  plain  the  fact  that  the 

264 


/ 


id  the 
rk  was 
mer  of 
by  the 
llowing 
le  Con- 
ned or 
Forest 
forever 
not  be 
by  any 
lall  the 

le  same 
ed  and 
I  St  day 
This 
legates, 
hat  the 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 

importance  of  preserving  the  great  North 
Woods  was  clearly  recognized.  These  forests 
affect  the  climate  of  the  State,  increase  its 
water  supply,  contain  many  valuable  health 
resorts,  and  afford  an  ideal  range  of  territory 
for  the  protection  and  preservation  of  deer — 
the  only  kind  of  large  game  now  remaining 
in  the  State  of  New  York.  As  is  well  known, 
the  species  which  is  found  in  the  Adirondack 
Woods  is  variously  designated  as  the  Virginia 
deer,  red  deer,  common  deer,  and  white-tailed 
deer;  and, as  Caton  says  in  his  "  Deer  and  An- 
telope of  America,"  has  been  found  in  every 
State  and  Territory  of  the  United  States,  as 
well  as  in  Canada,  British  Columbia  and 
Mexico.  Col.  William  F.  Fox,  Superintendent 
of  Forests,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  says,  in 
a  recent  most  valuable  report,  that  in  the 
Southern  States  "the  species  is  inferior  in 
size,  being  fully  one-third  smaller  than  the 
northern  deer.  The  Adirondack  deer,  while 
not  exhibiting,  perhaps,  the  very  largest  and 
finest  type,  will  compare  favorably  with  those 
of  Maine  and  Michigan,  where  the  species  is 
seen  at  its  best.  In  the  Adirondack  region 
it  attains   a  maximum  weight  of  about  350 

pounds.     The  largest  recorded  size — a  buck, 

265 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

killed  in  Warren  County — showed  a  height  of 
4  feet  3  inches  over  the  withers,  with  a  length 
from  nose  to  tip  of  tail  of  9  feet  7  inches." 

For  every  reason  it  is  important  to  give 
proper  protection  to  these  animals,  whose 
grace  and  beauty  make  them  of  interest  to  all 
who  visit  the  woods,  and  whose  pursuit  in  fair 
chase  gives  keen  pleasure  to  the  sportsman. 

Many  years  ago  deer  were  shot  when  they 
came  to  the  salt  licks ;  but  a  wise  law  long 
since  prohibited  this,  as  well  as  the  use  of 
traps.  Two  objectionable  methods  of  killing 
deer  were,  however,  still  permitted  by  law, 
and  generally  practiced  throughout  the  Adi- 
rondacks  when  the  new  Constitution  went  into 
effect.  One  was  jacking,  and  the  other  was 
driving  the  deer  with  hounds  to  deep  water, 
and  shooting  them  while  swimming.  In  jack- 
ing, the  hunter  is  paddled  silently  along  the 
edge  of  a  lake,  with  a  bright  light  in  the  bow 
of  the  boat  or  fastened  to  his  hat ;  a  deer,  fas- 
cinated by  the  light,  stands  watching  it,  until  a 
load  of  buckshot  is  fired  in  the  direction  of 
the  shining  eyes  of  the  deer,  which,  as  a  rule, 
are  the  only  parts  of  the  animal  which  can  be 
distinguished.  Reliable  authorities  have  esti- 
mated, that  only  one  in  four  of  the  deer  thus 

266 


ght  of 

length 

It 
s. 

3  give 
whose 
t  to  all 
in  fair 
man. 
in  they 
w  long 
use  of 
killing 
by  law, 
he  Adi- 
snt  into 
ler  was 
)  water, 
In  jack- 
ing the 
he  bow 
er,  fas- 
until  a 
tion  of 
a  rule, 
can  be 
ve  esti- 
er  thus 


The  Adirondack  Deer   Law 

killed  is  secured,  the  others  running  to  some 
distant  or  secluded  spot  before  lying  down  to 
die  of  their  wounds,  and  that  four-fifths  of 
those  secured  are  nursing  does,  whose  un- 
weaned  fawns  are  left  to  die  of  starvation. 
Little  can  be  said  in  defense  of  this  method  of 
hunting. 

The  objection  to  driving  deer  to  deep  water 
is  that  their  escape  is  practically  impossible,  as 
a  man  in  a  boat  can  row  faster  than  any  deer 
can  swim.  Even  a  child  can  thus  be  rowed 
around  the  swimming  animal,  and  can  shoot 
at  him  until  a  lucky  shot  kills.  One  of  the 
best  guides  in  the  Adirondacks  told  me  that 
he  had  seen  a  man  fire  thirty-two  shots  at  a 
swimming  deer  before  the  clumsy  butchery 
ended. 

The  lovers  of  fair  sport  were  encouraged 
by  the  increased  interest  in  our  forests,  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  as  evidenced  by  the 
adoption  of  the  section  of  the  new  Constitu- 
tion already  quoted,  to  hope  for  legislation 
which  would  wisely  protect  the  deer.  Their 
contention  rested  upon  two  fundamental  pro- 
positions :  First,  that  the  preservation  of  deer 
in  our  State  was  so  desirable,  that  they  should 

be  protected  from  such  methods  of  slaughter 

267 


/ 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

as  might  result  either  in  their  extermination 
or  migration  ;  and,  second,  that,  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  whether  deer  were  increasing  or 
diminishing  in  numbers,  they  should  be  pro- 
tected from  cruel  or  unsportsmanlike  methods 
of  killing.  That  jacking  is  cruel  and  unsports- 
manlike few  would  deny,  and  that  killing  deer 
in  deep  water  would  hasten  their  extermination 
is  the  firm  belief  of  many  who  are  well  quali- 
fied to  form  an  accurate  judgment.  For  these 
reasons,  both  in  the  interest  of  sport,  and  for 
the  better  protection  of  the  deer,  the  most 
earnest  efforts  were  made  in  the  years  1895, 
1896,  and  1897  to  secure  the  enactment  of 
laws  prohibiting  jacking  and  hounding.  Dur- 
ing this  time  I  was  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, so  that,  in  telling  of  what  was  attempted, 
and  what  was  accomplished,  I  can  say,  in  the 
words  of  the  narrator  of  another  story : 

.     .     .     quceque  ipse     .     .     .     vidi 
et  quorum  pars     .     .     .    fui. 

When  the  session  of  1895  opened,  the  gen- 
eral law  permitted  the  killing  of  deer  from  the 
15th  of  August  to  the  ist  of  November; 
hounding  was  permitted  from  September  loth 
to  October  loth,  and  there  was  no  prohibition 

against  jacking.     Special  laws  regulated  deer 

268 


> 


nation 
yr  inde- 
ing  or 
)e  pro- 
lethods 
isports- 
ig  deer 
lination 
11  quali- 
)r  these 
and  for 
le  most 
:s  1895, 
iient  of 
.     Dur- 
Legisla- 
mpted, 
|r.  in  the 


he  gen- 
rom  the 
member ; 
Der  loth 
hibition 
ed  deer 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 

hunting  on  Long  Island,  and  in  the  five  coun- 
ties of  St.  Lawrence,  Delaware,  Greene,  Ulster, 
and  Sullivan,  in  some  of  which  hounding  was 
prohibited.  Mr.  W.  W.  Niles,  Jr.,  a  member 
of  Assembly  from  New  York  City,  introduced 
a  bill  prohibiting  absolutely  both  jacking  and 
hounding,  but,  notwithstanding  the  able  and 
earnest  '»'ork  of  Mr.  Niles  and  others,  the  pro- 
posed law  failed  of  passage. 

During  this  year  the  "  Fisheries,  Game  and 
Forest  Law  "  was  enacted,  and,  in  accordance 
with  one  of  its  provisions,  the  Governor  ap- 
pointed the  "Fisheries,  Game  and  Forest 
Commission,"  which  has  from  the  outset  done 
admirable  work  for  the  great  interests  which 
are  under  its  supervision. 

Unuer  the  direction  of  a  Committee  of  the 
Senate,  a  revision  of  the  Game  Laws  was  pre- 
pared, but  it  was  not  submitted  to  the  Legis- 
lature until  the  concluding  days  of  the  session. 
The  only  change  which  was  proposed  in  the 
law  concerning  deer,  was  the  substitution  of 
the  1 6th  for  the  15th  of  August  as  the  open- 
ing day  of  the  season,  and  with  this  unimpor- 
tant change  of  one  day  as  a  result  of  the 
year's  work  on  the  deer  laws,  the  Legislature 

adjourned. 

269 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

As  set  forth  in  its  Constitution,  one  of  the 
objects  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club  is 
"To  work  for  the  preservation  of  the  large 
game  of  this  country,  and,  so  far  as  possible, 
to  further  legislation  for  that  purpose."  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  during  all  this  time  the 
members  of  the  club,  and  other  sportsmen 
throughout  the  State,  were  earnestly  interested 
in  the  question  thus  presented  to  the  Legisla- 
ture. Now  and  then  some  well-known  woods- 
man would  urge  the  importance  of  shortening 
the  season,  leaving  the  methods  of  killing  un- 
changed, but  almost  invariably  it  would  be 
found  that  he  never  hunted  with  a  jack-light, 
or  killed  a  deer  when  swimming.  A  few  good 
sportsmen  who  used  dogs  to  drive  their  deer 
to  runways,  but  who  never  shot  them  in  deep 
water,  opposed  the  prohibition  of  hounding, 
and,  in  order  to  meet  the  case  of  those  who 
thus  hunted  with  hounds,  it  was  suggested 
that  a  law  be  passed  prohibiting  the  killing  of 
deer  in  deep  water.  The  impossibility  of  en- 
forcing such  a  law  was  speedily  recognized  by 
all,  and  its  advocates  soon  abandoned  it. 

It  is,  I  think,  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
the  best  sportsmen    in   the  State,  with  here 

and  there  an  exception,  favored  the  absolute 

270 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 


prohibition  of  both  jacking  and  hounding. 
Mr.  Madison  Grant,  whose  devotion  to  all 
that  concerns  the  best  interests  of  sport  is 
well  known,  was  tireless  in  submitting  to  com- 
mittees and  members  of  the  Legislature  facts 
and  arguments.  Mr.  George  Bird  Grinnell, 
well  qualified  to  speak  authoritatively  on  all 
hunting  questions,  whose  personal  experiences 
with  big  game  go  back  to  the  time  when 
myriads  of  buffalo  wandered  over  the  Western 
prairies,  lent  to  the  proposed  legislation  the 
strength  of  his  favorable  endorsement.  Mr. 
Robert  C.  Alexander,  the  President  of  the 
Adirondack  League  Club,  both  personally  and 
through  the  columns  of  th^  Mail  and  Express, 
gave  to  those  who  were  contending  for  the 
laws  his  forceful  and  helpful  influence.  In 
1896,  the  Hon.  George  R.  Malby,  of  St.  Law- 
rence County,  introduced  in  the  Senate  bills 
prohibit-  .g  entirely  hounding  and  jacking, 
which  he  ably  advocated  and  passed  through 
the  Senate. 

Similar  bills  were  introduced  in  the  Assem- 
bly. They  were  earnestly  championed  by  the 
Hon.  Martin  Van  Buren  Ives,  of  St.  Lawrence 
County,  and  others.  The  Fisheries,  Game 
and  Forest  Commission   prepared   a   report, 

271 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


\ 

'">  i 

showing  that  5,000  deer  were  killed  in  the 
Adirondacks  during  1895,  and  they  officially 
expressed  the  opinion  that  both  jacking  and 
hounding  should  be  prohibited ;  but  despite 
such  endorsement,  and  the  most  strenuous 
efforts  of  the  friends  of  the  bills,  they  failed  to 
pass.  Some  of  the  arguments  used  against 
the  measures  were,  that  the  proposed  legisla- 
tion was  in  the  interest  of  a  few  rich  men  who 
owned  large  preserves ;  that  it  would  injure 
the  business  of  the  guides  and  the  hotels ;  and 
that  the  deer,  under  the  existing  law,  were  in- 
creasing so  rapidly  that  there  was  not  food 
enough  for  them  in  winter,  so  that  many 
starved  to  death.  With  such  statements,  mem- 
bers from  certain"  Adirondack  counties  made 
an  earnest  personal  appeal  against  the  bills, 
and  it  was  found  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  secure  their  passage. 

A  compromise  measure  was,  therefore, 
framed,  which  left  the  open  season  unchanged, 
but  prohibited  hounding  and  jacking,  except 
between  the  ist  and  15th  days  of  October; 
and  this  measure,  notwithstanding  a  most  de- 
termined opposition,  was  passed,  and  received 
the  Governor's  signature. 

In  the  autumn  of  1895  I  was  a  candidate 


272 


I 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 

for  re-election  to  the  Legislature.  The  entire 
country  was  stirred  by  the  financial  questions 
at  issue,  and  there  was  an  uninterrupted  series 
of  public  meetings  in  central  New  York,  as 
elsewhere,  at  which  these  questions  were  dis- 
cussed. During  the  six  weeks  preceding  the 
election  I  spoke  almost  every  evening,  but  I 
was  exceedingly  desirous  of  making  a  visit  to 
the  woods,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  the 
sentiment  of  the  guides  and  hotel-keepers  re- 
garding jacking  and  hounding,  and  incident- 
ally of  doing  a  little  still-hunting.  Arranging 
so  that  there  were  no  engagements  to  speak 
from  one  Saturday  until  the  following  Thurs- 
day, and  leaving  home  on  Saturday,  I  found 
myself  Sunday  morning  in  the  woods.  A  long 
tramp  that  day  proved  conclusively  that  the 
law  which  prohibited  hunting  on  Sunday  was 
openly  and  persistently  violated.  I  came 
across  parties  who  were  watching  on  runways 
for  the  deer  that  might  be  driven  in  by  their 
hounds,  and  was  nearly  fired  at  by  one  eager 
sportsman,  who  was  ready  to  shoot  at  any 
object  he  saw  moving  through  the  under- 
growth. Monday  morning  I  made  an  early 
start,  and  spent  the  day  in  the  woods  search- 
ing for  game. 

273 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

I  think  it  was  Sir  William  Thompson  who 
said,  that  if  he  were  offered  his  choice  between 
the  possession  of  knowledge  and  its  pursuit, 
he  would  unhesitatingly  choose  the  pursuit. 
I  must  admit  that  I  am  somewhat  of  that 
philosopher's  mind  in  regard  to  game,  for  the 
pleasure  of  a  day's  hunting  has  never  been 
dependent  upon  the  quantity  of  game  bagged. 
When  the  country  through  which  one  hunts 
is  beautiful  the  days  have  an  added  pleasure. 

Many  years  ago  I  spent  some  time  among 
the  Harz  Mountains  in  Germany,  hunting  in 
the  preserves  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  The 
richness  in  legend  and  fable,  and  the  wild 
beauty  of  that  region,  made  it  a  delight,  even 
when  no  shot  was  fired,  to  roam  over  moun- 
tain or  through  valley,  trying  to  find  game  in 
the  daytime,  or  watching  for  wild  boars  by 
moonlight.  So,  in  our  own  North  Woods,  it 
is  not  necessary  even  to  see  a  deer,  in  order 
to  lie  down  contentedly  to  dreamless  sleep  on 
the  balsam  boughs.  Nature  herself  repays  all 
the  labor  of  forcing  a  way  through  the  tangled 
underbrush,  struggling  through  swamp,  or 
climbing  rocky  hillsides.  But,  were  the  coun- 
try without  an  attractive  feature,  the  true 
sportsman  would  find  in  the  chase  itself  ample 

274 


f 


n  who 
itween 
ursuit, 
lursuit. 
)f  that 
for  the 
;r  been 
ragged. 
2  hunts 
leasure. 
among 
iting  in 
k.    The 
he  wild 
ht,  even 
r  moun- 
game  in 
oars  by 
^oods,  it 
n  order 
sleep  on 
ipays  all 
tangled 
imp,   or 
le  coun- 
he  true 
If  ample 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 

reward  for  all  his  labors,  and  if  his  efforts  to 
come  upon  a  deer  by  still-hunting  are  crowned 
with  success,  he  may  reasonably  feel  the  most 
intense  satisfaction. 

In  the  deer  the  sense  of  smell  and  hearing 
are  remarkably  developed.  A  tree  may  fall, 
making  the  mountain  side  re-echo  as  it  crashes 
to  the  ground,  and  the  deer  is  undisturbed ; 
but  the  careless  footstep  which  breaks  a  twig 
or  snaps  a  branch  puts  him  instantly  on  guard 
against  the  approaching  enemy,  and  if  the 
hunter  moves  as  noiselessly  as  the  falling 
snow,  he  is  doomed  to  failure  if  he  approaches 
the  deer  down  the  wind.  Sometimes  the 
hunter  will  come  upon  a  deer  browsing,  with- 
out having  previously  tracked  it,  and  his  eye- 
sight must  be  keen  to  distinguish  the  game 
among  the  trees  before  it  is  alarmed  and  dis- 
appears. When  the  track  is  followed,  it  is 
well  to  do  as  Mr.  Barringer,  in  his  interesting 
article,  "  Dog  Sledging  in  the  North,"  in  the 
"  Book  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club,"  says 
the  Indians  do  in  following  moose — leave  the 
track  continually  in  semicircles  down  wind. 

All  day  Monday  I  traveled  up  hill  and 
down,  without  seeing  track  or  trace  of  deer, 
but  with  much  pleasurable  discourse  with  the 

275 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

guide  who  accompanied  me.  Tuesday  I  went 
further  north,  and  covered  many  miles,  in 
company  with  a  splendid  specimen  of  the 
Adirondack  guide  and  woodsman.  We  found 
fresh  tracks,  and  once  we  saw  three  deer — a 
buck  and  two  does — but  not  near  enough  to 
justify  shooting.  Both  days  the  woods  were 
very  dry,  but  Tuesday  night  it  rained,  and 
Wednesday  morning,  in  a  drizzling  fall  of 
mist,  I  started  out  again.  At  about  ten 
o'clock  I  saw,  through  the  dense  foliage  of  a 
fallen  tree,  the  form  of  a  moving  deer.  Stop- 
ping instantly,  I  waited,  and  in  a  few  seconds 
saw  the  head  and  neck  exposed  to  plain  view, 
at  a  distance  of  about  sixty  yards.  A  fortu- 
nate shot  broke  the  vertebra,  and  the  deer 
died  instantly. 

Among  the  guides  and  hotel-keepers  whom 
I  met,  there  was  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor 
of  the  entire  prohibition  of  hounding  and 
jacking.  The  limit  of  two  weeks'  time  made 
it  a  profitless  expense  to  keep  dogs  for  eleven 
and  a  half  months,  when  they  could  only  be 
used  for  two  weeks. 

So  many  visitors  now  come  to  the  Adiron- 

dacks,  that  the  conditions  are  very  different 

from  those  which  prevailed  a  decade  ago,  and 

276 


f 


The  Adirondack  Deer  Law 

many  men  who  had  been  most  devoted  to 
hounding,  were  forced  to  admit  that  if  the 
deer  are  to  be  preserved,  they  must  be  pro- 
tected from  a  form  of  hunting  which  makes 
their  death  inevitable  when  they  get  into  the 
water.  The  unsportsmanlike  method  of  shoot- 
ing the  swimming  deer  from  a  boat  was  gen- 
erally deprecated. 

Greatly  encouraged  by  vhat  I  had  learned, 
I  went  back  to  the  Legislature,  hopeful  that 
during  the  session  of  1897  satisfactory  legisla- 
tion could  be  secured,  and  this  proved  to  be 
the  case.  The  contest  was  renewed  with  in- 
creased energy.  Notwithstanding  the  force 
of  fact  and  argument,  it  was  still  impossible  to 
pass  a  law  prohibiting  absolutely  these  two 
methods  of  hunting ;  but  a  compromise  law 
was  enacted,  by  which  they  were  prohibited 
for  five  years. 

Any  one  who  kills  deer  must  recognize  that 
the  contest  at  best  is  an  unequal  one.  The 
man  with  a  rifle  is  at  such  a  great  advantage 
that  there  is  comparatively  little  to  be  proud 
of  in  killing  a  deer  under  any  circumstances. 
But  when  one  is  compelled  to  match  his  phys- 
ical endurance,  his  woodcraft,  and  his  skill  as 
a  hunter,  against  the  deer's  natural  instinct, 

277 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

which  enables  it  to  detect,  with  such  wonder- 
ful keenness  of  smell  or  hearing,  the  presence 
of  a  man,  he  can  feel  that  he  has  at  least 
secured  his  game  in  a  way  that  can  fairly  be 
called  sportsmanlike. 

Let  us  hope  that  when  five  years  have 
passed,  no  one  will  be  found  to  oppose  the 
passage  of  a  law  which  will  extend  indefinitely 
the  prohibition  against  hunting  deer  with  jack- 
lights,  and  shooting  them  when  swimming  in 
deep  water. 

Wm.  Cary  Sanger. 


978 


t 


vonder- 
resence 
it  least 
airly  be 

-s  have 
ose  the 
efinitely 
ith  jack- 
ming  in 

%nger. 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

There  is  that  about  the  island  of  Newfound- 
land which  suggests  caribou.  The  rugged 
ground  breaks  in  flinty  billows  everywhere, 
yet  leaves  now  and  again  a  spot  of  oily  calm, 
a  level  reach  of  yellow  barren.  The  wood- 
lands are  evergreens  that  picture  snows  and 
wintry  winds  even  in  golden  summer  days; 
and  everywhere  grow  tangles  of  wiry  vines 
and  undergrowth,  conquered  here  and  there 
by  the  level,  bushy  tops  of  berry  plants.  And 
beneath  all  is  a  soft  carpet  of  gray  moss, 
ankle-deep  and  moist,  which  the  caribou  so 
dearly  love — moss,  which  to  them  is  a  luxury 
in  summer,  a  necessity  in  winter,  a  feast  al- 
ways. And  then  there  are  a  myriad  lakes, 
great  and  small,  lapping  incessantly  in  vain 
endeavor  to  smooth  their  soft  beaches  of  the 
countless  cloven  tracks,  that  vanish  in  the 
daylight  only  to  form  again  like  mushrooms 
in  the  dark,  as  countless  as  before. 

We  traveled  to  Grand  Pond  by  rail  and 

water,  and  there  our  outfit  met  us,  and  we 

279 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

branched  forth  from  civilization  into  the  wil- 
derness. 

It  required  three  days'  hard  rowing  to  reach 
the  Upper  Birchy  Pond.  Our  flotilla  consist- 
ed of  two  eighteen-foot  dories,  railroaded  for 
us  from  Bay  of  Islands,  and  a  light  Peter- 
borough canoe,  kindly  loaned  by  young  Mr. 
Reed.  My  father  chose  this  latter  for  his  flag- 
ship, and  I  paddled  him,  while  into  the  two 
transports  were  loaded  our  complete  outfit, 
together  with  our  old  Rocky  Mountain  guide, 
Mr.  Keller,  two  hunters,  three  packers,  the 
cook,  and  a  Newfoundland  puppy  of  masto- 
dontic  proportions. 

I  have  never  seen  more  ideal  watercourses 
for  trout  or  salmon,  and  despite  the  lateness 
of  the  season  we  had  no  difficulty  in  supply- 
ing the  pan  with  an  abundance  of  both.  Only 
the  smaller  salmon  took  the  fly ;  but  we  knew 
the  big  fellows  lurked  beneath  our  keels,  for 
frequently,  from  some  swirling  pool  at  the 
foot  of  a  rapid,  one  would  shoot  a  clear  two 
feet  into  the  air,  and  fall  gleaming  back  again 
with  resounding  slap.  Then  we  would  hun- 
grily watch  the  circle  ripples  run  apart  and 
lap  on  either  bank,  and  a  yearning  would  iill 

our  hearts. 

280 


> 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

Perhaps  we  would  halt  the  march,  and  cast 
a  tempting  fly  a  dozen  times  or  more.  But 
soon  this  became  a  mere  matter  of  form,  for 
the  big  fish  would  not  accept  any  challenge. 
They  had  retired  from  the  ring  till  the  next 
season,  and  they  kept  their  resolution  scrupu- 
lously. 

Newfoundland  geographers  have  odd  ways. 
Amongst  others  they  call  lakes,  miles  broad 
and  long,  ponds.  Hence,  when  Sir  William 
informed  us  we  should  have  to  traverse  a  half 
dozen  or  so  "ponds"  to  reach  the  Upper 
Birchy  Pond,  we  were  expectant  of  a  few 
hours'  paddling  at  most.  Imagine  our  sur- 
prise and  mild  consternation  when,  at  the  end 
of  the  first  day's  hard  labor,  we  had  traversed 
but  two  of  these  so-called  ponds.  Then  there 
were  smaller  lakes  not  accounted  for  at  all, 
but  classed  by  these  generous  explorers  as 
widenings  in  the  river.  Some  of  these  even 
required  an  hour  to  cross.  But  the  work  was 
pleasant,  with  the  constant  expectation  of  a 
shot  at  caribou  and  the  excitement  of  the 
rapids,  and  I,  for  one,  was  not  sorry  to  see 
our  jaunt  lengthening  into  a  journey. 

On  the  second  day,  as  we  were  crossing 

Sandy    Pond,    one    of   the    guides,    William 

281 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


•^    I. 


Beaton,  sighted  a  bull  caribou  a  mile  away 
upon  the  beach.  Instantly  the  march  stopped, 
and  our  glasses  were  leveled. 

As  I  had  never  shot  a  caribou,  I  was  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  one  to  bring  him  into 
camp.  I  demurred,  but  my  father  insisted; 
so  he  climbed  into  the  dory,  and  William  into 
the  canoe,  I  meanwhile  unbuckling  my  .45-70 
Winchester,  and  taking  my  seat  in  the  bow. 
Then,  with  a  parting  "good-luck,"  and  bit  of 
advice  not  to  shoot  from  too  far  off,  we  were 
away,  and  as  we  left  the  motionless  flotilla  I 
heard  my  father  say :  "  That's  all  right ;  I'll 
wager  the  boy  gets  him."  And  I  trembled 
for  myself.  Suppose  I  should  miss  in  plain 
sight  of  all ! 

William  bore  a  friendly  rivalry  to  Keller, 
the  Rocky  Mountain  man,  and  exerted  him- 
self to  the  utmost.  The  canoe  was  rapidly 
and  silently  stealing  toward  a  wooded  point 
that  projected  into  the  lake,  some  three  hun- 
dred yards  to  windward  of  our  quarry,  and  I, 
watching  through  my  glasses,  saw  the  bull 
grow  and  grow,  until  he  loomed  a  monster 
indeed.  Soon  I  could  even  count  the  larger 
points  upon  his  antlers,  and  I  saw  he  had  a 

splendid  head. 

aSa 


> 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

He  was  walking  leisurely  back  and  forth, 
feeding  from  some  bushes  overhanging  the 
golden  beach.  Then  a  noise  from  the  watch- 
ing dories  met  his  ears.  Calmly  he  walked  to 
the  water's  edged  and  gazed  at  them.  I  feared 
he  would  sight  us,  but  he  did  not,  and  the  low 
canoe  crept  on  unseen.  Then,  satisfied  that 
the  dories  were  harmless,  the  regal  fellow  re- 
turned up  the  beach,  showed  his  back  to  the 
lake,  and  deliberately  lay  down.  How  my 
heart  exulted ! 

Gliding  swiftly,  we  passed  behind  the  point, 
and  lost  sight  of  our  noble  quarry.  I  judged 
that  I  should  have  to  shoot  about  two  hun- 
dred yards,  and  so  gauged  my  Lyman  sight. 
With  the  least  possible  noise  our  canoe  grated 
upon  the  round  stones  of  the  beach,  and  I 
stepped  cautiously  into  the  ankle-deep  water, 
and  held  the  gunwale  while  William  got  out. 
In  doing  so  he  accidentally  struck  his  paddle 
against  the  stern.  My  heart  stood  still.  We 
listened  apprehensively,  but  no  sound  came 
from  across  the  point ;  all  was  silent  as  the 
grave.  Then  we  began  to  walk  swiftly  up  the 
shore,  William  leading.  Fifty  steps  and  we 
rounded  the  point,  stooping  low. 

Yes,  there  lay  the  bull,  head  down,  back  to 

283 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

us,  and  to  all  appearances  asleep.  In  full 
sight  we  crept  forward.  A  fallen  balsam 
stretched  across  the  beach,  a  dozen  yardis 
ahead,  and  I  resolved  to  shoot  from  there. 
The  metallic  click !  click !  of  the  hob-nails  in 
my  boots  against  the  stones  warned  me  to 
approach  no  nearer. 

I  set  my  sight  for  1 75  yards,  and,  leaning 
forward,  rested  my  rifle  across  the  fallen  bal- 
sam. Instantly  it  plunged  and  reared  like  a 
gun-shy  horse.  Several  dry  branches  cracked, 
and  to  my  dismay  I  saw  the  bull  spring  up 
and  face  us,  quartering. 

I  tried  to  shoot  above  the  bobbing  tree,  but 
it  was  too  high.  Stooping,  I  sought  another 
aim,  but  I  was  badly  cramped,  and  the  whip- 
ping of  the  branches  before  my  eyes  bothered 
me.  Nevertheless,  I  caught  the  white  of  a 
shoulder  through  my  sights,  and  fired. 

The  caribou  moved  one  step  forward,  and  a 
branch  snipped  from  a  bush  just  over  his  back. 
I  knew  I  had  shot  too  high.  Lowering  my 
rifle  I  depressed  the  sight  to  1 50  yards.  Then 
I  dropped  flat  on  my  stomach,  and  while  the 
bull  still  stood  motionless,  unable  to  locate 
the  seat  of  danger,  I  drew  a  careful  bead  for 

his  shoulder,  well  back,  and  fired  again. 

284 


I 


In   full 

balsam 
n  yardij 
n  there. 
)-nails  in 
d  me  to 

,  leaning 
lUen  bal- 
ed like  a 
J  cracked, 
spring  up 

r  tree,  but 
*t  another 
the  whip- 
bothered 
hite  of  a 
d. 

ard,  and  a 
his  back, 
irering  my 
ds.    Then 
while  the 
to  locate 
1  bead  for 
ain. 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

At  the  crack  he  plunged  forward  and  ran, 
side  on,  down  the  beach.  Pumping  the  lever, 
I  swung  ahead  of  him,  waited,  saw  his  head 
enter  my  sight,  then  his  shoulder,  and  fired 
again.  Instantly  he  pitched  headlong,  and 
lay  motionless  at  the  water's  edge. 

A  sound  came  over  the  lake — the  fall  and 
sweep  of  oars.  The  butchers  were  coming. 
My  part  was  done. 

I  arose  and  started  down  the  beach.  I 
think  my  contentment  was  perfect.  I  patted 
my  Winchester  lovingly. 

"Those  are  nice  cartridges,"  I  said. 

William  smiled  most  affably. 

"That's  a  good  gun,"  he  remarked.  "You 
didn't  need  your  third  shot." 

And,  smiling  amiably  together,  we  con- 
tinued our  walk. 

At  the  spot  where  the  bull  had  stood  and 
received  my  first  and  second  salutes,  we 
halted. 

The  sand  was  trampled  and  crushed  into  a 
regular  caribou  camp.  Evidently  the  old  fel- 
low had  been  living  there  many  days,  waiting, 
no  doubt,  for  his  cows  to  swim  across  the  lake 
to  him. 

We  saw  where  my  first  shot  had  nipped  the 

285 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


1    I 


bush ;  and,  yes,  we  saw  clear  evidence  of  my 
second.  A  drift  of  hair  upon  the  sand  and  a 
shot  streak  of  blood.  William  was  right 
about  my  third  shot. 

Then  we  walked  to  the  fallen  monarch. 
He  was  quite  dead. 

My  second  bullet  had  passed  an  inch  behind 
my  third  through  the  very  center  of  his  shoul- 
der. Both  shots  were  mortal.  He  was  a 
magnificent  specimen,  white,  with  snowy  neciv 
of  shaggy  hair,  and  splendid  antlers.  The 
brow  plows  were  exceptionally  fine.  One  was 
enormous,  measuring  i8^  inches  in  breadth, 
with  twelve  points  upon  it.  The  other  was  a 
single,  long,  sword-like  point.  He  had  thirty- 
six  points,  all  well  defined.  He  was  a  very 
old  stag,  and  his  horns  were  the  color  of  a 
black-tail  deer's,  from  being  cleaned  on  burnt 
tree  trunks.  They  had  an  unusual  spread  and 
beam. 

"  You'll  kill  a  hundred  and  not  get  a  better 
head,"  said  William. 

After  the  caribou  was  dressed,  the  official 
distance  of  my  shots,  163  and  197  yards,  was 
ascertained,  and  we  again  embarked. 

We  experienced  some  considerable  diffi- 
culty in  finding  the  outlet,  or  rather  inlet,  in 

286 


> 


of  my 
1  and  a 
i    right 

onarch. 

behind 
s  shoul- 
was   a 
ivy  necrw 
s.     The 
Dne  was 
breadth, 
er  was  a 
d  thirty- 
j  a  very 
ilor  of  a 
n  burnt 
ead  and 

a  better 

official 
irds,  was 

)le   diffi- 
inlet,  in 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

the  upper  end  of  this  Sandy  Pond  water,  and 
for  two  hours  we  paddled  back  and  forth 
hunting  it.  While  doing  so  a  band  of  caribou 
were  sighted  upon  the  beach  a  mile  away,  and 
my  father  and  William  stalked  them  in  the 
canoe  while  we  watched.  But  the  three  bulls 
of  the  band  all  proved  too  small,  and,  after 
chasing  them  down  the  shore  to  see  them  run, 
the  hunters  returned  empty-handed. 

Then  we  found  the  stream  we  sought,  and 
began  to  ascend  it.  Its  mouth  had  formed  a 
delta  into  the  lake,  and  the  channel  wound  in 
and  out  and  about  in  a  most  fearful  and  won- 
derful fashion,  that  kept  us  guessing,  and  more 
over  board,  pushing  and  shoving,  than  in  board. 
But  an  hour's  toiling  brought  us  saieiy  through 
and  well  into  the  main  stream,  and  a  more 
beautiful  stretch  of  water  I  have  never  seen. 

Deep  and  purple  black  it  wound  between 
banks  that  overhung  our  heads  with  a  wreath 
of  verdure,  flamed  scarlet  here  and  there  by  a 
species  of  wild  cranberry.  It  was  an  ideal 
trout  stream,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  we 
camped  beside  that  night  we  caught  as  many 
of  the  speckled  aristocrats  as  we  desired  and 
as  the  pan  demanded. 

The  next  morning  we  were  off  early,  and  as 

287 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

I  recall  that  third  day  now  it  seems  an  endless 
journey  through  lakes  that  began  every  mile 
and  never  ended.  The  truth  is  that  each  dory 
was  rowed  by  four  strong  men,  and  I  paddled 
that  canoe  alone,  and  a  strong  dead  wind 
sprang  up  and  added  to  my  toil. 

But  about  four  in  the  afternoon  the  wind 
increased  so  greatly  and  the  waves  swelled  to 
such  dimensions  that  it  was  no  longer  possible 
to  proceed  with  any  degree  of  safety  in  the 
canoe,  and  so  we  shifted  to  the  dories  and 
towed  our  little  craft  behind.  It  was  just 
after  this  that  I  spied  a  young  bull  caribou 
swimming  directly  toward  us  across  the  lake, 
narrowed  to  a  few  hundred  yards  at  this 
point. 

We  remained  motionless  as  he  swam  up, 
but  we  did  not  stop  talking.  On  he  came, 
swimming  strong  and  turning  his  head  this 
way  and  that  to  stare  with  his  great  eyes  at 
our  strange  selves.  Now  and  again  a  wave, 
larger  than  its  fellows,  would  break  upon  his 
nose.  Then,  with  a  grunt  of  disapproval,  the 
bull  would  raise  himself  with  furious  strokes 
half  out  of  the  water  and  shake  his  head 
violently.  Soon  he  had  approached  within  a 
hundred  yards  of   us.     Then  he  decided  he 

283 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


endless 
:ry  mile 
ch  dory 
paddled 
id  wind 

he  wind 
celled  to 
possible 
y  in  the 
ries  and 
tfvas   just 
caribou 
he  lake, 
at  this 

warn  up, 
lie  came, 
ead  this 
eyes  at 
a  wave, 
lupon  his 
oval,  the 
strokes 
is  head 
within  a 
;ided  he 


would  give  us  a  wider  berth,  and  sheered  off 
a  few  points,  making  for  the  land  a  couple  of 
hundred  yards  above  us.  At  once  the  idea  of 
catching  the  youngster  occurred  to  us,  and 
with  a  wild  yell  the  chase  began. 

And  such  a  chase  ! 

In  each  boat  four  sturdy  men  heaved  upon 
as  many  ashen  oars  with  mighty  heaves,  and 
our  two  dories  shot  ahead  like  live  things. 
The  caribou  turned  squarely  up  the  lake  and 
swam  for  dear  life  down  the  very  center,  in  the 
face  of  wind  and  waves  and  pelting  rain.  He 
swam  very  fast,  and  it  took  us  ten  minutes  to 
cut  down,  inch  by  inch,  the  hundred  yards  of 
water  that  separated  us. 

At  last  we  overtook  him,  and  ranged  on 
either  side  of  him  as  he  swam,  grunting  and 
puffing;  and  then  Fred,  the  guide,  grabbed 
him  by  the  horns.  Instantly  chaos  arose  and 
circled  us.  The  lake  lifted  from  its  very  bot- 
tom, shouldered  over  and  fell  about  us  with 
the  hurtling  rain,  while  the  beating  as  of  ten 
thousand  hoofs  rang  upon  the  dory's  side. 

Above  this  tumult  spoke  a  voice  : 

"Be  careful  and  don't  hurt  him,  Fred,"  it 
said. 

That  must  have  sounded  ludicrous  to  Fred, 

289 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

hanging  on  for  dear  life  to  that  beast's  antlers, 
while  its  sharp  hoofs  played  a  tattoo  alter- 
nately upon  his  ribs  and  funny  bone. 

All  the  while  I  was  standing  in  the  bow  of 
the  other  dory,  taking  pictures  with  reckless 
disregard  of  the  swaying  of  the  boat  and  the 
raindrops  that  sat  stolidly  upon  my  camera's 
one  eye.  In  a  moment  of  calm  I  obtained  one 
fairly  good  photograph,  but  all  those  which 
should  have  shown  the  wonderful  gymnastics 
that  Fred  and  his  captive  indulged  in  came 
home  from  the  Eastman  Company  blighted 
by  that  dismal  word  "  failure." 

After  I  had  finished,  Fred  released  the  stag, 
and  the  way  that  poor  brute  legged  it  back 
across  the  lake  was  pitiful.  We  watched  him 
till  he  took  bottom  and  bounded  out,  and  then 
we  rowed  onward. 

The  experience  illustrated  to  us  how  easily 
the  Newfoundlanders  are  enabled  to  catch  the 
caribou  as  they  swim  across  the  waterways 
and  cut  their  throats,  as  is  their  common 
custom. 

A  little  later  in  the  day,  while  searching  for 

a  passable  channel  up  the  shallow  stream  that 

connects  the  Middle  and  Upper  Birchie  Ponds, 

we  were  highly  amused  by  the  interest  an  old 

290 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou   Hunt 


cow  caribou  evinced  in  our  outfit.  When  first 
discovered  by  Keller  she  was  feeding  near  by 
upon  the  bank.  We  landed  within  five  hun- 
dred yards  of  her,  and  I  shot  a  brace  of  yel- 
low-leg plover,  but  she  only  looked  more 
interested,  and  walked  a  few  steps  closer.  We 
shouted,  and  waved  our  hats,  but  still  she  re- 
fused to  run. 

Late  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day  we 
found  the  spot  we  sought,  an  old  Indian  tee- 
pee that  stood  upon  a  point  reaching  half 
across  the  Upper  Birchie  Pond,  about  in  its 
center. 

"  Where  two  sandy  points  stand  opposite, 
there  you  must  camp,  for  there  the  deer 
cross,"  we  had  been  told  by  Mr.  Parsons  away 
back  at  our  Grand  Pond  camp,  and  now  we 
had  found  those  points. 

Without  taking  valuable  time  to  reconnoi- 
ter,  for  the  daylight  was  waning,  we  ascertained 
that  the  teepee  was  there,  and  thoroughly  un- 
inhabitable by  white  men  or  self-respecting 
dogs,  and  began  hastily  to  make  a  temporary 
camp  nearby.  It  had  fortunately  stopped 
raining,  but  everything  was  wet,  ourselves 
included,  and  I  for  one  hastened,  as  soon  as 
camp  was  made,  to  dig  up  dry  clothing  from 

291 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

the  bottom  of  one  of  the  waterproof  pack 
sacks ;  for,  of  course,  what  I  wanted  was  at 
the  bottom,  where  things  one  wants  always 
are. 

That  evening  we  passed  in  pleasurable  an- 
ticipation, and  the  glad  knowledge  that  our 
ten  days  of  traveling  was  at  an  end,  and  our 
destination  reached.  Tilley  cooked  our  sup- 
per in  the  teepee,  and  served  us  the  part  the 
cockroaches  didn't  steal,  and  after  several 
warmly  contested  games  of  California  Jack, 
we  turned  in  and  slept  to  the  musical  patter 
of  rain  upon  the  canvas  roof  above  us. 

The  sun  was  shooting  flashing  arrows  of 
light  through  the  pine  tops  when  we  awoke 
the  next  morning,  and  Tilley  had  our  break- 
fast of  caribou  steak,  golden  plover  and  bacon 
waiting  for  us  at  the  tent  entrance. 

It  had  been  our  intention  to  make  perma- 
nent camp  where  we  were,  but  fifteen  minutes 
sufficed  to  convince  us  of  the  utter  impossi- 
bility of  such  a  course.  This  old  Indian  camp- 
ing ground  was  a  veritable  slaughter  pen. 
Beside  the  teepee  were  huge  piles  of  bones, 
hide  and  skulls,  some  but  half  decomposed; 
and  everywhere,  in  the  woods  and  along  the 

rocky  shore,  lay  skulls  and  antlers.     It  is  a 

292 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


low  estimate  to  say  that  the  horns  of  a  thou- 
sand caribou  lay  bleaching  beside  that  lake. 

And  there  were  some  magnificent  speci- 
mens, too  ;  but  few  that  were  not  defaced  and 
rendered  valueless  by  the  wanton  ax  of  the 
Indian.  The  smaller  heads  were  whole,  but 
all  the  finer  specimens  were  hacked  and 
broken.  In  nine  antlers  out  of  ten  could  be 
seen  the  slugs  of  the  Indians'  sealing  guns 
half  buried  in  the  bone. 

It  was  evident  that  we  dare  not  camp  near 
that  slaughter  house,  and  so  we  hunted  out  a 
new  sit  \  We  soon  found  one  some  distance 
away  and  directly  upon  the  point,  thirty  yards 
back  from  the  water  and  amongst  the  trees, 
that  proved,  after  three  hours'  hard  chopping 
and  clearing,  to  be  all  it  promised. 

We  stationed  one  of  the  men  in  an  airy 
perch,  forty  feet  up  a  pine,  armed  with  a  pair 
of  field  glasses  and  a  whistle,  and  from  that 
hour  till  we  broke  camp,  as  long  as  there  was 
daylight,  some  one  of  the  men  was  sure  to  be 
seated  there,  scanning  the  lake  up  and  down 
for  crossing  bands  of  caribou. 

When  one  was  spied  he  blew  the  whistle. 
That  was  always  the  signal  for  a  rush  to  the 
point,  and  we  examined  the  bulls  of  the  band 

893 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

from  there  through  our  glasses,  and  passed 
judgment  upon  them.  If  we  decided  they 
were  desirable,  the  one  whose  turn  it  was 
seated  himself  in  the  canoe,  his  hunter  took 
the  paddle,  and  a  spirited  race  began  to  see 
whether  the  bull  or  the  boat  would  reach  the 
prospective  landing  place  first.  Often  it  was 
the  caribou,  and  when  that  proved  the  case 
the  only  recourse  for  the  hunter  was  to  hur- 
riedly scramble  ashore  and  take  the  chances 
of  a  long  running  shot. 

It  was  the  exception  when  caribou,  once 
started  across  the  lake,  turned  back  again. 
Even  if  a  human  being  was  in  view  on  the 
shore  they  were  making  for  they  would  not 
return  on  their  course,  but  would  turn  up  or 
down  the  shore,  and  seek  a  second  landing. 
If  frustrated  a  second  time,  then  they  might 
swim  back  again,  but  seldom,  indeed,  did  one 
turn  at  the  first  sign  of  danger. 

It  would  be  no  difficult  task  to  fill  a  book 
with  our  trip  amidst  the  lakes  and  woodlands 
of  Newfoundland.  Indeed,  I  find  the  hardest 
thing  to  do  is  to  condense  my  narrative  into 
the  small  number  of  pages  I  am  allowed.  But, 
of  course,  I  must  not  neglect  the  telling  of  my 
father's  first  kill.     Like  mine,  it  was  witnessed 

894 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou   Hunt 


by  the  entire  party,  and  a  very  pretty  bit  of 
work  it  was. 

We  were  just  putting  the  finishing  touches 
to  our  permanent  camp,  and  Mr.  Keller,  father 
and  myself,  were  debating  as  to  the  best 
method  of  constructing  that  very  important 
article  of  camp  furniture,  the  dining  table, 
when  the  shrill  alarum  of  the  watch-tower 
whistle  quivered  and  swelled  in  our  ears. 

Observing  the  courtesy  of  turn  about,  I 
handed  my  father  his  rifle  and  a  half-dozen 
cartridges,  and  together  we  rushed  to  the 
point. 

"  There  he  blows ! "  called  Elias  from  his 
watch-tower ;  and,  following  his  leveled  glasses, 
we  descried  the  head  and  antlers  of  a  bull 
moving  rapidly  toward  our  bank,  a  half-mile 
down  the  lake.  Father  and  Tom  Beaton 
sprang  toward  the  canoe,  and  in  a  moment 
the  dip,  dip,  of  twin  paddles  met  our  waiting 
ears,  and  wc  saw  the  "  Peterborough"  stealing, 
like  a  thief  in  the  night,  down  the  shore,  well 
within  the  shadow  of  the  forest.  I  turned  my 
attention  to  the  bull.  The  glasses  brought 
him  almost  to  my  feet.  He  was,  indeed,  a  fine 
fellow,  and  swam  so  bravely,  with  eyes  and 
nose  water  level,  and  antlers  thrown  regally 

895 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

back,  that  I  felt  a  momentary  pity  well  up  in 
my  breast. 

The  bull  swam  strongly  on,  unconscious  of 
danger;  yet,  more  swiftly  than  he  swam,  his 
doom  flew  down  the  shore.  I  could  see  my 
father  and  Tom  Beaton  swaying  rhythmically 
to  their  work,  putting  their  hearts  into  each 
and  every  stroke.  The  canoe  seemed  alive. 
Soon  they  had  come  within  range,  still  unper- 
ceived.  The  caribou  was  making  for  a  strip 
of  sand  beach  a  few  yards  the  other  side  of  a 
point  that  stretched  far  out  in  the  lake. 

The  canoe  rounded  this  point  before  the 
deer  saw  it,  and  then,  to  our  great  surprise, 
instead  of  landing  there,  where  they  would 
have  been  offered  a  splendid  shot  as  the  bull 
came  ashore,  they  kept  on,  and,  running  be- 
tween the  deer  and  the  bank,  turned  him 
back. 

Then  began  a  race  across  the  lake  that  was 
as  exciting  as  anything  of  the  kind  I  have  ever 
seen.  The  caribou  had  a  fifty-yard  lead  and 
swam  hard.  At  any  part  of  the  race,  had  my 
father  wished,  he  could  have  shot  him  easily, 
but,  of  course,  he  did  not.  We  upon  the  shore 
guessed  what  he  was  doing.  He  was  count- 
ing the  points  on  the  antlers,  and  deciding 

296 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

whether  that  stag  was  killable  I  Rather  novel, 
wasn't  it?  Examine  your  game,  pass  judg- 
ment, and  then  either  kill  or  free  it. 

Two-thirds  the  distance  was  already  con- 
sumed, then  suddenly  the  canoe  shot  ahead 
and  passed  the  caribou,  then  stopped,  turned, 
and  forced  the  poor  beast  back  toward  our 
side  again. 

They  had  decided  the  head  was  a  desirable 
one,  and  now  were  driving  the  stag  to  the 
most  convenient  spot  to  kill  him.  They  might 
easily  have  driven  him  to  the  very  point  we 
stood  upon,  but  they  were  probably  tired  with 
their  long  and  hard  race,  and  simply  returned 
him  to  the  original  point. 

The  stag  swam  slower  now,  and  when  with- 
in a  hundred  yards  of  the  point  the  canoe 
again  forged  ahead,  and  this  time  my  father 
stepped  ashore  upon  the  point.  In  a  few 
seconds  the  caribou  landed  a  hundred  yards 
below  him.  For  a  fleeting  moment  he  paused 
to  shake  himself.  Brief  as  that  moment  was, 
it  was  fatal;  for  we,  watching,  saw  a  puff  of 
creamy  smoke  suddenly  appear  before  the  lev- 
eled rifle,  saw  the  bull  plunge  wildly  a  few 
yards  and  pitch  headlong  upon  the  beach,  and 
before  even  the  report  of  the  shot  reached  us, 

297 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

we  realized  that  the   noble  beast  was  dead. 

I  must  pass  over  many  interesting  events  in 
our  camp  life,  and  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  we 
lived  every  moment  of  it  pleasantly. 

Caribou  were  very  plentiful,  and  it  was  not 
many  days  before  our  camp  had  assumed  the 
semblance  of  a  true  hunter's  paradise.  On 
either  side  of  our  pathway  before  the  tent 
stretched  long  lines  of  drying  venison  that  the 
guides  had  laid  claim  to  for  their  winter  meat. 
This  was  a  gratifying  claim  to  us,  for  we  were 
averse  to  wasting  any  part  of  the  trophies  of 
the  chase,  and  the  wants  of  a  people  who  win- 
tered in  that  bitter  region  were  so  great  we 
knew  we  could  not  exceed  them. 

Beneath  this  drying  meat  hung  the  hides, 
all  of  which  we  preserved  for  rugs,  and  be- 
neath and  in  front  of  these  were  the  sawed 
and  cleansed  skulls  and  their  glorious  antlers. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  picture  to  gratify  the  exacting 
heart  of  a  big  game  hunter;  not  because  of 
the  number  of  the  kills,  for  that  was  not  great, 
but  because  of  their  superior  quality. 

We  had  heard  of  the  barrens  above  the  hills 
about  the  lakes,  but  because  of  the  heavy  for- 
est growth  upon  the  hillsides,  we  could  not 

see  them  from  the  lake  shore.     It  was  upon 

298 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


these  barrens  that  the  monster  stags  were  re- 
ported to  roam,  and  we  determined  to  visit 
them  before  we  broke  camp. 

Choosing  a  good  day  we  made  an  early 
start  and  were  off.  After  an  hour's  row  up 
the  lake,  we  landed  at  a  spot  where  a  clear 
mountain  brook  babbled  a  promise  of  some 
little  aid  to  the  ascent,  and  began  what  proved 
to  be  the  hardest  bit  of  climbing  I  have  ever 
undergone.  We  used  the  ax  freely,  but  in 
spite  of  our  efforts  at  opening  a  way,  we  con- 
sumed the  better  part  of  three  hours  in  as- 
cending less  than  a  mile  of  sloping  hillside. 
It  was  crawl  here  and  wriggle  there,  but  never 
an  upright  position  among  them  all. 

When  at  lencjth  we  had  reached  the  crest  of 
the  hills,  and  no  sign  of  the  barrens  appeared, 
we  sent  a  guide  up  a  tree  to  reconnoiter.  He 
was  able  to  make  out  very  little,  but  said  he 
thought  he  saw  an  opening  a  mile  inland. 
This  was  discouraging ;  but  while  we  were 
discussing  the  advisability  of  beating  a  retreat, 
one  of  the  other  guides,  who  had  wandered 
apart  unperceived,  returned  with  the  gratify- 
ing news  that  not  five  hundred  yards  away  lay 
a  huge  plain  literally  alive  with  caribou.  In- 
stantly we  resumed  the  march,  rifles   ready. 

299 


■!     I 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

Now  the  trees  began  to  thin,  and  the  moss 
to  grow  more  and  more  spongy,  and  then, 
with  a  suddenness  which  dazzled,  the  whole 
scene  shifted,  and  we  were  standing  in  a  fringe 
of  breast-high  bushes,  and  before  us,  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  see,  stretched  a  yellow  waste  of 
level  plain,  sweeping  with  gentle  undulation 
to  the  north  and  east,  where  lay  Grandfather's 
Lookout  and  Hall's  Bay. 

But  our  attention  was  chained  by  something 
nearer  and  more  absorbing ;  for  three  hun- 
dred yards  before  us  was  a  band  of  twenty 
caribou.  There  were  three  bulls.  One,  stand- 
ing, was  a  little  fellow.  But  two,  lying  down, 
were  apparently  monsters,  one  of  them  espe- 
cially, and  these  two  we  decided  to  have.  The 
cover  extended  fifty  yards  nearer  to  our 
quarry,  and  carefully  we  made  our  way  to  its 
very  edge.  The  cows  were  browsing,  and  did 
not  heed  us.  I  do  not  believe  they  would 
have  minded  had  we  stepped  fairly  out  into 
the  open. 

The  biggest  bull  was  to  go  to  my  father,  as 
to  date  I  held  the  champion  head ;  and  we 
agreed  that  he  should  fire  first.  He  selected 
a  stunted  pine  tree  for  a  rest,  and  I  stepped 

to  one  side,  and  chose  the  limb  of  another. 

300 


the  moss 
nd  then, 
be  whole 
I  a  fringe 
as  far  as 
waste  of 
ndulation 
idfather's 

omething 
iree  hun- 
)f  twenty 
ne,  stand- 
ng  down, 
lem  espe- 
ive.  The 
'  to  our 
^ray  to  its 
r,  and  did 
ey  would 
out  into 

father,  as 
;  and  we 
i  selected 
I  stepped 
another. 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 

As  he  fired,  I  was  conscious  of  seeing  his 
bull  stagger  to  its  feet,  and  stand  there  sway- 
ing, and  then  my  attention  was  absorbed  by 
my  own,  which  rose  and  started  to  trot  away, 
side  on.  I  fired,  and  apparently  hit  him,  for 
he  stopped  instantly,  and  stood,  head  down 
as  if  about  to  fall.  I  fired  twice  more,  but  the 
hmb  I  used  as  a  rest  swayed  and  bothered  me 
so  that  I  missed  each  shot.  Then  I  fired  one 
shot  off-hand,  and  the  bull  pitched  forward  all 
in  a  heap,  with  a  bullet  through  his  heart, 
quite  dead. 

My^  quarry  disposed  of,  I  turned  to  my 
father's.  His  bull  still  stood,  apparently  badly 
hurt  and  about  to  fall,  but  as  the  cows  ran  he 
started  to  follow,  regaining  new  life  at  each 
step,  until  my  father  fired  again,  and  the  bull 
went  down  like  a  log. 

^  We  turned  to  the  barrens,  and  a  wonderful 
sight  met  our  eyes.  The  whole  plains  were 
covered  with  grazing  caribou.  A  half  mile 
away  one  band  roamed.  A  little  farther  three 
bulls,  one  of  them  a  huge  fellow,  were  daring 
one  another  to  fight.  Beyond  stretched  a 
waste  with  caribou  everywhere. 

There,  before  us,  lay  the  two  bulls  we  had 
just  shot,  with  the  cows  that  were  with  them 

301 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


'■^    I 


standing  wondering  by,  having  stopped  run- 
ning when  the  big  bull  fell.  One  cow  lay  just 
beyond  him,  and  we  made  sure  the  bullet  that 
felled  this  bull  had  also  slain  her.  But,  extra- 
ordinary to  tell,  we  discovered  she  had  quietly 
lain  down,  and  was  not  harmed  at  all.  To 
her  the  firing  was  a  pleasant  lullaby. 

Father  wished  to  try  for  the  distant  big 
bull,  and  he  and  the  guide,  Tom,  set  out,  leav- 
ing us  to  watch  and  wait.  The  wind  was  bad 
for  a  successful  stalk,  and  they  were  forced  to 
make  a  large  circuit  below  the  brow  of  the 
plateau  the  barren  rested  upon.  Soon  they 
were  lost  to  sight. 

Before  they  had  been  gone  fifteen  minutes, 
the  bull  father  had  left  for  dead  struggled  to 
his  feet  and  started  to  walk  away.  I  brought 
him  down  again  with  a  shot  through  the  shoul- 
der; but  yet  he  was  not  dead,  and  when,  later, 
we  walked  up  to  him  he  attempted  to  charge 
us,  with  many  snorts  of  fury,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  send  a  bullet  through  his  heart. 

While  father  chased  the  bull  I  took  several 

photographs  of  the  cows  standing  near  by, 

and  then  Keller  and  I  walked  a  half  mile  to 

the  west,  to  where  a  spur  of  woods  hid  that 

part  of  the  plains  from  us. 

302 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


d  run- 
ly  just 
et  that 
,  extra- 
quietly 
1.     To 

tnt  big 
It,  leav- 
vas  bad 
>rced  to 
of  the 
on  they 

[linutes, 

rgled  to 

Drought 

shoul- 

n,  later, 

charge 
I   was 
eart. 

several 
lear  by, 

mile  to 

lid  that 


We  intended  to  head  off  my  father's  bull 
should  he  come  that  way,  which  was  highly 
probable.  But  we  saw  nothing  more  of  either 
the  hunters  or  the  bull  till  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  the  former  returned  and  re- 
ported a  kill  after  an  extremely  hard  stalk  of 
five  miles,  an  exciting  miss,  and  a  splendid 
snap  shot  through  the  trees,  when  he  had 
given  up  all  hope  of  ever  seeing  that  particu- 
lar bull  again. 

From  our  new  position  we  could  see  far  to 
the  west  and  north,  and  everywhere  our 
glasses  disclosed  bands  of  feeding  caribou. 
The  plain  was  literally  honeycombed  with 
countless  game  trails  that  resembled  wagon 
roads  more  than  paths.  And  everywhere  the 
level  reach  was  dotted  with  silver  ponds  and 
lakes.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight,  the  most 
marvelous  I  have  ever  seen,  and  we  spent  an 
hour  viewing  it. 

Then  we  returned  to  the  slain  bulls,  and, 
after  literally  driving  the  cows  away,  for  one 
of  them  lay  quite  still  until  we  were  within 
thirty  yards  of  her,  we  began  skinning  out. 

We  arrived  in  camp  late  that  night,  tired 
with  the  exhausting  tramp  down  hill  in  the 
dark    through    the    thickest   of    woods,   but 

303 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


VI 


pleased  beyond  measure  by  our  day's  experi- 
ence and  trophies.  On  the  morrow  we  sent 
three  of  the  men  to  chop  a  trail  up  to  the  bar- 
rens, and  ever  after  that,  when  we  paid  the 
plains  a  visit,  we  had  a  good  road  to  ascend 
by. 

One  Sunday  my  father  went  on  an  explore 
ing  expedition  to  the  head  of  the  lake,  and 
returned  at  night  with  a  strange  tale.  He 
had  followed  a  creek,  as  he  said,  "  way  up  into 
Hall's  Bay  country,"  and  had  determined  to 
his  satisfaction  that,  contrary  to  his  belief, 
the  deer  did  not  use  that  end  of  the  lake  as  a 
pass  to  cross  southward.  But  he  made  a  dis- 
covery that  explained  a  good  many  things 
mystifying  to  us.  Where  the  creek  he  fol- 
lowed entered  the  lake  were  erected  three 
huge  scaffolds,  one  of  which  was  as  large  as 
the  floor  of  a  big  house.  These  structures 
were  of  considerable  age,  but  in  good  repair, 
and  were  the  drying  scaffolds  of  the  Mic-Mac 
Indians.  Here  they  prepared  their  annual 
stock  of  winter  meat,  killing  it  around  the 
shores  of  the  lake,  and  floating  it  down.  It 
was  a  certainty  from  the  signs  in  evidence 
about  these  scaffolds  that  thousands  of  cari- 
bou were  annually  dried  there.    That  this  lake 

304 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


s  experi- 
we  sent 
)  the  bar- 
paid  the 
:o  ascend 

n  explore 
lake,  and 
:ale.     He 
ly  up  into 
•mined  to 
lis  belief, 
;  lake  as  a 
lade  a  dis- 
ky  things 
k  he  fol- 
ted  three 
5  large  as 
structures 
od  repair, 

Mic-Mac 
ir  annual 
ound  the 
down.     It 

evidence 
s  of  cari- 
t  this  lake 


had  also  been  a  hunting  ground  for  white  men 
for  years  and  years  was  proven  to  us  by  my 
finding,  neatly  carven  in  the  huge  trunk  of  a 
fallen  forest  monarch,  the  date  1847,  ^"^  three 
initials  that  I  have  now  forgotten. 

We  enjoyed  a  number  of  amusing  incidents 
where  caribou  literally  came  into  camp,  and 
once,  in  particular,  Erie,  the  big  Newfound- 
land puppy,  and  Tilley,  the  cook,  came  face  to 
face  with  a  yearling,  and  almost  took  it  alive ; 
but  it  finally  got  into  the  water  and  escaped. 

I  wish  to  recount  two  more  kills — our  last. 
Both  were  made  upon  the  barren  ;  and  we 
prize  their  heads  highly.  I  shall  relate  fa- 
ther's kill  in  his  own  words,  as  he  told  the 
story,  late  in  the  evening,  after  his  triumphant 
return. 

"  It  was  almost  dark,"  he  said,  "  and  Tom 
and  Elias  had  gone  back  to  get  those  other 
heads.  I  waited  alone  at  the  edge  of  a  point 
of  pines.  Presently  a  cow  and  a  big  bull 
walked  leisurely  into  view  four  hundred  yards 
below  me.  I  determined  to  have  those  ant- 
lers, for  even  in  the  fading  light  I  could  see 
that  they  were  grand  ones;  but  the  distance 
was  too  great  to  risk  a  shot.  I  began  a  cau- 
tious stalk ;  but  I  had  not  gone  a  dozen  steps 

305 


Trail  and 


ip-Fire 


':   I 


when  the  cow  sa-  .  and  bolted,  with  the 
bull  after  her. 

"As  they  disappeared  I  yelled  at  them, 
never  expecting  to  see  either  of  them  again. 
Imagine  my  surprise  when  the  old  bull  stepped 
forth  from  the  woods  above  and  grunted  at  me. 
I  shouted  again  and  waved  my  hat,  and  the 
fellow  grunted  more  fiercely  still,  and  started 
for  me.  I  stepped  forward  to  meet  him  half- 
way, when  back  he  skipped  into  the  woods.  In 
a  moment  he  was  out  again,  and  for  five  minutes 
he  and  I  kept  up  that  dance.  I  decided  that 
before  long  he  would  bolt,  as  he  had  evidently 
given  up  his  idea  of  charging  me,  and  so  I  de- 
termined to  risk  a  shot. 

"  The  distance  was  great,  pacing  365  yards, 
and  the  light  almost  gone.  In  addition  to 
that  the  caribou  stood  face  on  and  hidden 
from  the  shoulder  down  by  a  bush.  I  thought 
he  stood  in  the  very  edge  of  the  woods.  Rais- 
ing my  .303,  I  held  squarely  for  his  forehead 
between  the  eyes  and  fired.  He  disappeared 
instantly. 

"  *  He's  gone  now,'  I  told  myself.  But  I 
had  expected  to  miss,  and  did  not  feel  very 
badly,  considering  the  circumstances.       But  I 

walked  to  where  he  stood,  and  to  my  surprise 

306 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


th  the 

them, 
again, 
tepped 
at  me. 
nd  the 
started 
m  half- 
ds.    In 
ninutes 
ed  that 
idently 
so  I  de- 
yards, 
ion  to 
lidden 
lought 
Rais- 
jrehead 
Dpeared 

But  I 
;el  very 
But  I 
surprise 


and  delight,  there  he  lay  in  his  tracks,  stone 
dead.  My  bullet  had  passed  directly  through 
the  left  brow  plow,  cutting  a  clean  hole  three 
inches  long,  and  smashed  into  his  brain,  killing 
him  instantly." 

My  last  kill  was  made  the  following  day,  the 
last  in  camp.  It  was  pouring  rain  and  very 
foggy,  but  I  set  forth  with  Tom,  Fred  and 
Elias,  and  arrived  upon  the  barrens  about 
noon.  What  a  bleak  prospect  it  was!  The 
steady  rains  of  the  past  week  had  flooded  the 
entire  plain  with  icy  water,  above  which  the 
wiry  grasses  waved  mournfully.  The  fine  rain 
drove  almost  level  before  a  fierce  north  wind, 
and  a  thin  gray  fog  obscured  clear  vision. 
But  we  determined  not  to  give  up,  and,  leav- 
ing Fred  and  Elias  to  skin  out  the  kill  of  the 
night  previous,  Tom  and  I  set  forth,  splashing 
across  the  plain.  We  had  gone  perhaps  a 
half  mile,  and  had  just  breasted  the  brow  of 
a  swell,  when  simultaneously  we  both  ducked 
low,  and  hurriedly  ran  down  the  hill  again. 

We  had  discovered  a  band  of  thirty  or 
more  caribou  feeding  a  mile  beyond  us.  Our 
glasses  showed  three  bulls,  two  of  them  very 
large,  and  we  held  a  war  consultation. 

To  begin  with,  the  wind  was  wrong.     Then 

307 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


■•>  I 


there  was  absolutely  no  cover,  and  the  plain 
between  the  caribou  and  ourselves  was  dead 
level.  To  make  a  circle  sufficient  to  obtain 
cover  meant  a  three-mile  tramp,  with  the  pros- 
pect that  the  caribou  would  be  gone  when  we 
got  to  the  end  of  it.  So  we  decided  to  go  a 
short  distance  to  the  right  to  avoid  having  the 
wind  blow  directly  from  us  to  the  animals,  and 
then  to  crawl  up  on  them  over  the  flat  and 
open  barren. 

I  now  did  a  very  foolish  thing.  It  was  bit- 
terly cold,  and  the  water  was  icy,  but  I  threw 
aside  my  gloves,  nor'wester  hat,  and  mackin- 
tosh topcoat,  and  began  my  stalk  with  naked 
head,  and  hands  and  body  covered  by  only  a 
thin  flannel  shirt.  For  a  solid  hour  we  wrig- 
gled forward  inch  by  inch,  through  the  rain 
and  fog,  stopping  every  time  a  cow  raised  her 
head.  Flat  on  our  stomachs  we  squirmed 
along,  and  in  that  position,  more  in  the  mud 
and  water  than  out,  we  covered  the  best  part 
of  a  mile. 

Long  before  we  had  crawled  near  enough 
to  be  in  anything  like  passable  range  a  fourth 
bull  join«^d  the  herd,  and  immediately  a  fight 
began.     The   biggest   of    the   three   original 

bulls  attacked  him,  and  they  closed,  and  for 

30S 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


le  plain 
as  dead 
obtain 
he  pros- 
;hen  we 
to  go  a 
kring  the 
lals,  and 
flat  and 

was  bit- 

I  threw 

mackin- 

h  naked 

f  only  a 
we  wrig- 

he  rain 
.ised  her 
quirmed 

he  mud 
)est  part 

enough 
a  fourth 
y  a  fight 
original 
and  for 


fifteen  minutes  we  lay  still  and  watched  them 
trample  the  ground  as  they  struggled  this  way 
and  that  for  the  mastery.  The  clashing  of 
their  horns  was  like  the  ringing  of  sabres,  and 
I  cannot  understand  why  they  did  not  break 
them  to  atoms. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  the  cows  standing  in- 
terestedly about,  we  could  no  doubt  have  run 
directly  up  to  the  fighting  bulls  unperceived. 
At  last  the  interloper  was  whipped  off,  and, 
walking  a  little  to  one  side,  he  lay  down  and 
was  lost  to  sight.  But  we  had  seen  enough  of 
him  to  determine  that  he  was  the  one  we 
wanted,  and  again  we  began  our  crawl.  My 
hands  were  numb  and  swollen  with  the  cold 
and  the  rough  usage  I  had  given  them,  but  I 
passed  my  rifle  forward  to  Tom  to  lug,  and 
kept  on. 

Soon  we  were  within  range,  but  it  was  im- 
possible, because  of  the  fog,  to  say  whether 
the  distance  was  two  or  four  hundred  yards. 
The  herd  had  fed  into  a  clump  of  low  bushes 
that  promised  us  some  sort  of  cover,  and  now 
we  advanced  more  rapidly.  We  crawled 
through  their  very  center,  once  dropping  flat 
in   four  inches  of  water,  while   an  old  cow 

walked   leisurely   about    us    not    twenty   feet 

309 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


'>! 


■'!     I 


away.  Then  she  fed  away  again,  and  we 
wriggled  on. 

We  knew  now  that  we  were  very  near  the 
bull  we  sought,  but  still  we  could  not  see  him. 
Suddenly  a  cow  took  fright  and  trotted  away. 
Several  more  followed  her,  and  then,  eighty 
yards  in  front  of  us,  our  bull  arose.  He 
stood  face  on,  all  but  his  head  hidden  by  the 
bush. 

Three  separate  times  I  tried  to  catch  a  sure 
sight,  but  I  was  shaking  so  violently  with  the 
cold,  and  my  hands  were  so  numb  that  the 
rifle  traveled  all  over  the  face  of  the  land- 
scape, but  never  rested  for  a  fleeting  moment 
on  the  caribou. 

Then  I  deliberately  laid  my  Winchester 
down,  rolled  over  on  my  side,  and  pushed  my 
frozen  hands  into  the  breast  of  Tom's  warm 
shirt.  For  fully  two  minutes  I  kept  them 
there.  The  band  had  run  a  hundred  yards 
and  stopped,  and  our  bull  still  stood  watching 
us.  Then  he  suddenly  wheeled,  and  ran  pell- 
mell  for  the  woods  four  hundred  yards  away, 
and  we  saw  the  band  break  and  run  in  the 
opposite  direction.  Fred  and  Elias  had  fin- 
ished their  job  and  were  coming  to  seek  us, 

and  they  had  frightened  our  quarry. 

310 


A  Newfoundland  Caribou  Hunt 


.nd 


we 


ear  the 
ee  him. 
i  away. 

eighty 
e.      He 

by  the 

d  a  sure 
vith  the 
that  the 
le  land- 
moment 

ichester 

led  my 

warm 

them 

yards 

atching 

ran  pell- 

away, 

in  the 

lad  fin- 

eek  us, 


d 


is 


1  withdrew  my  partially  warmed  fingers  in  a 
hurry,  seized  my  rifle,  sprang  to  my  feet,  and 
opened  fire.  The  caribou  was  running  two- 
thirds  quartering  from  me,  and  it  was  very 
difficult  shooting  in  the  driving  rain  and  fog. 
I  emptied  my  magazine  of  its  five  shots,  thrust 
in  two  more,  and  fired  them,  and  just  as  I  dis- 
charged the  last  cartridge  the  bull  disappeared 
in  the  fringe  of  the  woods. 

I  turned  about  to  try  a  shot  at  the  others, 
but  they  were  gone. 

We  walked  to  the  spot  where  we  had  last 
seen  our  deer,  and,  pleasant  to  relate,  there  he 
lay,  dead,  with  five  shots  through  the  body 
and  two  through  the  antlers.  These  were 
magnificent  in  symmetry  and  coloring,  and  of 
very  good  dimensions ;  and  were  the  hand- 
somest set  I  ever  saw.  The  brow  plows  were 
uniform  in  size,  with  fingers  interlaced;  and 
on  either  side  above  them,  from  a  wide,  flat 
surface,  sprang  two  veritable  hands,  each  hav- 
ing five  long  spreading  fingers.  The  main 
beams  curved  far  forward  and  over,  and  their 
numerous  points  recalled  some  strange  bar- 
baric musical  instrument.  The  entire  horns 
were  tinted  a  rich,  reddish  amber,  like  the 
coloring  of  meerschaum. 


311 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

My  first  shot  was  fired  at  105  yards,  and  my 
last  at  390. 

We  skinned  the  prize  and  faced  campward 
in  triumph.  Twice  we  sighted  bands  of  cari- 
bou, but  we  left  them  in  peace.  We  had 
enough. 

The  next  day  we  broke  camp,  and  began 
our  homeward  journey ;  and  the  trophies  of 
our  hunt  now  adorn  the  St.  Louis  Club. 

Clay  Arthur  Pierce, 


■»  I 


31a 


ind  my 

ipward 
of  cari- 
le  had 

[  began 
)hies  of 
b. 


Herce, 


w 


ZOOLOGICAL  PARKi 

SOUTH  BRONX 


I'kKLIMINAKV    I'l.AX    OK    IIllC    \i:\V    YORK    /AH). 
Slidwiii)^'  Disposition  of  Anu'iican  Mammuls. 


t 


\*-s:ii 


:0 


The  Origin  of  the  New  York 
Zoological  Society 

In  the  autumn  of  1894  I  entered  into  a  cor- 
respondence with  Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
the  President  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club, 
with  reference  to  securing,  during  the  coming 
session  of  the  Assembly,  certain  legislation 
in  the  interest  of  game  protection.  It  was 
finally  decided  that  the  subject  should  be  laid 
before  the  Club  for  its  sanction  ;  and  this  was 
done  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Boone  and 
Crockett  Club  of  January  16,  1895,  when  the 
matter  was  entrusted  to  a  committee  of  which 
I  was  chairman. 

One  of  the  chief  objects  of  this  committee 
was  to  secure  for  New  York  City,  which  was 
then  entering  into  a  new  era  of  expansion 
under  a  reform  administration,  a  zoological 
park  on  lines  entirely  divergent  from  the  Old 
World  zoological  gardens,  and  which  would 
tend  to  introduce  those  principles  of  game 
preservation  advocated  by  the  Boone  and 
Crockett  Club. 

313 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

Upon  investigation,  the  committee  found 
that  a  measure  had  already  been  introduced 
at  Albany,  providing  for  the  establishment  of 
a  zoological  park  on  city  lands,  located  north 
of  155th  Street.  This  bill  had  been  intro- 
duced for  several  years  in  succession  by  Mr. 
Andrew  H.  Green,  and  had  each  year  been 
defeated,  chiefly  on  account  of  a  clause  in  it 
which  authorized  the  New  York  Park  Board 
to  turn  over  the  existing  Central  Park  Men- 
agerie to  the  proposed  Society.  This  clause 
had  provoked  violent  opposition  from  certain 
East  Side  representatives,  who  declared  the 
bill  to  be  a  mere  attempt  to  secure  the  control 
and  removal  of  the  Central  Park  Zoo,  and  so 
to  deprive  the  poor  children  of  the  pleasure 
afforded  by  it.  The  strength  of  this  opposi- 
tion was  good  evidence  of  the  popularity  of 
any  sort  of  animal  collection,  for  a  more 
wretched  exhibition  of  ill-kept  specimens  than 
the  existing  Zoo  cannot  be  found  in  any  large 
city  in  the  world. 

Curiously  enough,  there  was  also  in  circula- 
tion a  rumor  that  the  proposed  Society  would 
engage  in  the  business  of  breeding  small  ani- 
mals, such  as  dogs  and  fowls,  to  the  lasting 
injury  of  the  small  animal  dealers. 

314 


The  New  York  Zoological  Society 


e  found 
roduced 
iment  of 
id  north 
n  intro- 
i  by  Mr. 
;ar  been 
ise  in  it 
k  Board 
rk  Men- 
is  clause 
1  certain 
ired  the 
;  control 
),  and  so 
pleasure 

opposi- 
larity  of 

a  more 
ens  than 
ny  large 

circula- 
y  would 
nail  ani- 
;  lasting 


Mr.  Green  was  interviewed  by  the  commit- 
tee, and,  realizing  that  the  bill  could  not  suc- 
ceed without  the  help  of  the  Boone  and 
Crockett  Club,  he  agreed  to  give  them  the 
control  of  the  new  Society  if  the  bill  should 
become  law. 

The  measure  was  in  charge  of  Assembly- 
man W.  W.  Niles,  Jr.,  who  represented  the 
district  above  the  Harlem  River,  in  which  the 
proposed  park  would  in  all  probability  be 
located.  He  consented  to  push  the  bill,  if  the 
Boone  and  Crockett  Club  would  assume  the 
responsibility  of  organizing  the  Society,  and  if 
some  of  the  members  would  appear  as  incor- 
porators. 

The  bill  was  therefore  amended  by  the 
insertion  of  the  names  of  two  Boone  and 
Crockett  Club  men,  Mr.  La  Farge  and  my- 
self, among  the  original  incorporators,  and 
Mr.  Niles  modified  the  clause  relating  to  the 
Central  Park  Zoo  in  such  a  manner  that  while 
the  opposition  was  appeased,  the  Society  nev- 
ertheless retained  the  right  to  a  preference 
in  case  the  Park  Board  disposed  of  the  exist- 
ing Zoo  at  any  time  in  the  future.  The  small 
animal  dealers  were  interviewed  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  their  fears  dispelled.     Mr.  Niles 

315 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


■o  I 


then  pushed  the  bill  with  vigor,  and,  after  a 
prolonged  contest,  he  succeeded  in  forcing  it 
through  by  dint  of  some  of  the  hardest  work 
done  at  Albany  that  year. 

The  Society  was  organized  May  7,  1895,  ^"^ 
the  first  board  of  managers  contained  the 
names  of  nine  Boone  and  Crockett  Club  mem- 
bers, including  the  vice-president  and  both  the 
secretaries. 

Nearly  a  year  was  spent  in  the  considera- 
tion of  various  sites,  and  the  southern  end  of 
Bronx  Park  was  finally  found  to  possess  al- 
most the  exact  landscape  features  deemed  es- 
sential by  the  experts  to  whom  the  available 
locations  were  referred.  In  Bronx  Park,  mea- 
dow, glade,  forest,  pond  and  river  were  so 
distributed  that  buildings  could  be  located  and 
collections  installed,  practically  without  injury 
to  existing  trees. 

After  a  searching  inquiry  into  the  question 
of  accessibility,  drainage  and  kindred  matters, 
the  Zoological  Society  approved  this  site,  and 
on  May  21,  1896,  formal  application  was  made 
to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund 
under  the  terms  of  the  Society's  charter. 

The  question  was  under  consideration  by 

the   city    authorities    for   nearly  ten  months, 

316 


1,  after  a 
forcing  it 
lest  work 


1895, and 

ined   the 

lub  mem- 

both  the 

lonsidera- 
rn  end  of 
ossess  al- 
;emed  es- 
available 
*ark,  mea- 
were  so 
cated  and 
Dut  injury 

;  question 
i  matters, 
J  site,  and 
was  made 
ing  Fund 
rter. 

ration  by 
1  months, 


■-,  1 


i!iui)'s-i:vi-:  vii:\v  oi-  Tin-:  I'koi'osici)  zoolocicai.  pauk. 

I'rom  a  I'lmUijirapli  i>t'  the  Sucit'ty's  'l"(i|)ci>;i-ai)hii.'  Mmli'I. 


7 

V 

r 


f-   *ii. 


?■: 


i^^\ 


fi 


■i-.>"i  ■'■■ 


RK. 


The  New  York  Zoological  Society 

and  in  March,  1897,  a  grant  was  made  by  the 
city  to  the  New  York  Zoological  Society  of  all 
that  portion  of  Bronx  Park  lying  south  of 
Pelham  Avenue,  being  about  261  acres,  upon 
certain  restrictions  and  conditions  entirely  sat- 
isfactory to  the  Society. 

A  bill  was  also  secured  from  the  Legislature 
at  Albany  providing  $125,000  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  land  to  receive  the  Society's  build- 
ings and  collections.  At  the  present  writing 
the  Society  numbers  425  members,  and  is  in  a 
most  prosperous  financial  condition. 

As  the  New  York  Zoological  Society  owes 
its  existence  to  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club, 
a  few  words  concerning  its  purposes  cannot  be 
amiss.  Its  primary  object  is  to  secure  herds — 
not  merely  individuals — of  each  of  the  large 
North  American  quadrupeds,  and  to  place 
them  as  far  as  possible  in  surroundings  identi- 
cal with  or  closely  resembling  their  natural 
habitats.  A  space  of  twenty  acres  will  be 
devoted  to  the  American  bison ;  the  moose 
will  have  a  wooded  range  of  eight  acres ;  the 
wapiti  fifteen  acres,  and  the  other  deer  similar 
ranges.  The  beaver  will  have  a  pond  and 
stream,  together  with  growing  trees  and  full 
opportunity  to  build  his  dam  and  cabins,  while 

317 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


^  I 


the  bears  will  be  quartered  in  rock  ledges  and 
caves.  A  flying  aviary,  150  feet  long,  75  feet 
wide  and  50  feet  high,  will  enable  the  flamin- 
gos, herons,  ibis,  and  egrets  to  retain  their 
strength  by  the  free  use  of  their  wings ;  and 
the  monkeys  will  have  an  entire  grove  of  trees 
at  their  disposal — fenced  in  by  a  high  wire 
netting,  to  be  sure,  but  still  giving  them  free- 
dom on  a  scale  never  before  attempted. 

The  first  work  of  the  Society  will  be  to  pre- 
sent the  larger  North  American  mammals  in 
such  a  way  that  they  can  be  studied  by  the 
public,  and  still  keep  themselves  in  perfect 
condition  by  exercise.  After  that  the  larger 
buildings  will  be  constructed,  one  after  an- 
other, until  a  zoological  park  shall  be  devel- 
oped on  strictly  American  lines.  By  this  is 
meant  the  absolute  preservation  of  all  desira- 
ble natural  features  now  existing,  and  the  sub- 
ordination of  all  structures  and  of  landscape 
treatment  to  the  needs  of  the  specimens,  and 
especially  to  the  ranges  of  the  larger  animals. 

The  largest  Zoo  in  existence  in  Europe  is 
the  Zoological  Garden  in  Berlin — sixty  acres 
in  extent,  while  the  National  Zoological  Park 
at  Washington  contains   168  acres,  much  of 

which,  however,  is  unsuitable  for  collections, 

318 


to  pre- 
mals  in 
by  the 
perfect 
5  larger 
ter  an- 
devel- 
this  is 
desira- 
he  sub- 
dscape 
s,  and 
nimals. 
rope  is 
acres 
Jil  Park 
luch  of 
ctions, 


The  New  York  Zoological  Society 

so  with  its  261  acres  and  room  to  grow, 
the  New  York  Zoological  Society  begins  its 
career  with  an  enormous  advantage. 

Admission  to  the  Park  will  be  free — except 
on  two  days  of  each  week,  when  a  small  ad- 
mission fee  will  be  charged — but  in  return, 
the  city  will  be  expected  to  supply  the  cost 
of  maintenance.  The  Society  will  supply  the 
collections  and  scientific  management  of  the 
Park,  and,  so  far  as  practicable,  the  buildings. 

The  advantages  of  membership  in  the  So- 
ciety include  not  only  free  admission  and 
tickets  for  guests,  but  certain  right  to  publi- 
cations, use  of  library,  and  other  advantages. 

Scientific  investigations,  publications,  lec- 
tures and  animal  art  exhibitions  will  be  carried 
on  by  the  Society  in  conjunction  with  the 
Park,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that, 
in  the  near  future,  New  York  will  have  a 
flourishing  rival  to  the  London  Zoological 
Society. 

The  committee  of  this  club,  which  had  in 
charge  the  introduction  of  this  enterprise,  at- 
tribute their  success  before  the  Legislature  to 
the  energetic  help  of  members  of  the  Boone 
and  Crockett  Club,  and  to  the  very  consider- 
able influence  of  the  club  itself.     When  the 

319 


■'.  I 


Trail  and  Camp-Firc 

Society  was  once  organized,  the  first  support 
it  secured  was  from  the  members  of  that  club, 
who  came  forward  almost  in  a  body — practi- 
cally every  New  York  City  member — with 
money  and  with  time. 

The  formation  of  this  Society  comes  at  a 
time  when  it  is  still  possible  to  secure  speci- 
mens for  a  great  collection.  It  may  be  confi- 
dently asserted  that  twenty-five  years  hence 
the  rinderpest  and  repeating  rifle  will  have 
destroyed  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  larger  African 
fauna — including  certainly  the  most  beautiful 
antelopes  in  the  world — and  game  in  India 
and  North  America  in  a  wild  state  will  almost 
have  ceased  to  exist. 

The  New  York  Zoological  Society,  the  most 
vigorous  offspring  of  this  club,  demonstrates 
what  a  mission  and  opportunity  the  Boone 
and  Crockett  Club  has  in  these  closing  days  of 
the  century  in  its  efforts  to  preserve  the  game 
and  the  forests ;  in  short,  to  preserve  to  future 
generations  some  remnant  of  the  heritage 
which  was  our  fathers',  and  which,  to  a  great 
extent,  still  is  ours,  though  so  few  of  us  have 
learned  to  estimate  it  at  its  true  value. 

Madison  Grant, 


320 


support 
lat  club, 
— practi- 
:r — with 

les  at  a 
e  speci- 
)e  confi- 
s  hence 
ill  have 
African 
Deautiful 
in  India 
1  almost 

;he  most 
►nstrates 
i  Boone 
[  days  of 
le  game 
o  future 
heritage 
a  great 
us  have 

• 

rrant. 


Books  on  Big  Game 

The  nineteenth  century  has  been,  beyond  all  others, 
the  century  of  big  game  hunters,  and  of  books  about  big 
game.  From  the  days  of  Nimrod  to  our  own  there  have 
been  mighty  hunters  before  the  Lord,  and  most  warlike 
and  masterful  races  have  taken  kindly  to  the  chase,  as 
chief  among  those  rough  pastimes  which  appeal  naturally 
to  men  with  plenty  of  red  blood  in  their  veins.  But 
until  the  present  century  the  difficulties  of  travel  were  so 
great  that  men  with  a  taste  for  sport  could  rarely  gratify 
this  taste  except  in  their  own  neighborhood.  There 
was  good  hunting  in  Macedonia  in  the  days  of  Alexander 
the  Great;  there  was  good  hunting  in  the  Hercynnian 
forest  when  Frank  and  Burgund  were  turning  Gaul  into 
France;  there  was  good  hunting  in  Lithuania  as  late  as 
the  days  of  the  Polish  Commonwealth;  but  the  most 
famous  kings  and  nobles  of  Europe,  within  historic 
times,  though  they  might  kill  the  aurochs  and  the  bison, 
the  bear  and  the  boar,  had  no  chance  to  test  their 
prowess  against  the  mightier  and  more  terrible  beasts  of 
the  tropics.  No  modern  man  could  be  more  devoted  to 
the  chase  than  were  the  territorial  lords  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  their  successors  in  continental  Europe  to  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century;  indeed,  they  erred 
generally  on  the  side  of  fantastic  extravagance  and  ex- 
aggeration in  their  favorite  pursuit,  turning  it  into  a 
solemn  and  rather  ridiculous  business  instead  of  a  healthy 

Sti 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


\  I 


and  vigorous  pastime;  but  they  could  hunt  only  the 
beasts  of  their  own  forests.  The  men  who  went  on  long 
voyages  usually  had  quite  enough  to  do  simply  as  travel- 
ers; the  occupation  of  getting  into  unknown  lands  was 
in  itself  sufficiently  absorbing  and  hazardous  to  exclude 
any  chance  of  combining  with  it  the  rdle  of  sportsman. 

With  the  present  century  all  this  has  changed.  Even 
in  the  last  century  it  began  to  change.  The  Dutch 
settlers  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  English 
settlers  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North  America,  found 
themselves  thrown  back  into  a  stage  of  life  where  hunt- 
ing was  one  of  the  main  means  of  livelihood,  as  well  as 
the  most  exciting  and  adventurous  of  pastimes.  These 
men  knew  the  chase  as  no  men  of  their  race  had  known 
it  since  the  days  before  history  dawned;  and  until  the 
closing  decades  of  the  present  century,  the  American  and 
the  Afrikander  of  the  frontier  largely  led  the  lives  of 
professional  hunters.  Oom  Paul  and  Buffalo  Bill  have 
had  very  different  careers  since  they  reached  middle  age; 
but  in  their  youth  warfare  against  wild  beasts  and  wild 
men  was  the  most  serious  part  of  the  life  work  of  both. 
They  and  their  fellows  did  the  rough  pioneer  work  of 
civilization,  under  conditions  which  have  now  vanished 
for  ever;  and  their  type  will  perish  with  the  passing  of 
the  forces  that  called  it  into  being.  But  the  big  game 
hunter,  whose  campaigns  against  big  game  are  not  sim- 
ply incidents  in  his  career  as  a  pioneer  settler,  will  re- 
main with  us  for  some  time  longer;  and  it  is  of  him  and 
his  writings  that  we  wish  to  treat. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  last  century  this  big  game 
hunter  had  already  appeared,  although,  like  all  early 
types,  he  was  not  yet  thoroughly  specialized.    Le  Vail- 

322 


Books  on  Big  Game 


lunt  only   the 
)  went  on  long 
mply  as  travel- 
}wn  lands  was 
ous  to  exclude 
of  sportsman, 
langed.     Even 
.     The  Dutch 
i  the  English 
America,  found 
fe  where  hunt- 
sod,  as  well  as 
»times.    These 
ice  had  known 
and  until  the 
American  and 
;d  the  lives  of 
ffalo  Bill  have 
id  middle  age; 
easts  and  wild 
work  of  both, 
oneer  work  of 
now  vanished 
he  passing  of 
the  big  game 
e  are  not  sim- 
ettler,  will  re- 
is  of  him  and 

his  big  game 
like  all  early 
ed.    Le  Vail- 


lant  hunted  in  South  Africa,  and  his  book  is  excellent 
reading  now.  A  still  better  book  is  that  of  Bruce,  the 
Abyssinian  explorer,  who  was  a  kind  of  Burton  of  his 
days,  with  a  marvelous  faculty  for  getting  into  quarrels, 
but  an  even  more  marvelous  faculty  for  doing  work 
which  no  other  man  could  do.  He  really  opened  a  new 
world  to  European  men  of  letters  and  science;  who 
thereupon  promptly  united  in  disbelieving  all  he  said, 
though  they  were  credulous  enough  toward  people  who 
really  should  have  been  distrusted.  But  his  tales  have 
been  proved  true  by  many  an  explor'^r  since  then,  and 
his  book  will  always  possess  interest  for  big  game 
hunters,  because  of  his  experiences  in  the  chase.  Some- 
times he  shot  merely  in  self-defense  or  for  food,  but  he 
also  made  regular  hunting  trips  in  company  with  the 
wild  lords  of  the  shifting  frontier  between  dusky  Chris- 
tian and  dusky  infidel.  He  feasted  in  their  cane  palaces, 
where  the  walls  were  hung  with  the  trophies  of  giant 
game,  and  in  their  company,  with  horse  and  spear,  he 
attacked  and  overcame  the  buffalo  and  the  rhinoceros. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  the  hunting 
book  proper  became  differentiated,  as  it  were,  from  the 
book  of  the  explorer.  One  of  the  earliest  was  William- 
son's "  Oriental  Field  Sports."  This  is  to  the  present 
day  a  most  satisfactory  book,  especially  to  sporting 
parents  with  large  families  of  small  children.  The  pic- 
tures are  all  in  colors,  and  the  foliage  is  so  very  green, 
and  the  tigers  are  so  very  red,  and  the  boars  so  very 
black,  and  the  tragedies  so  uncommonly  vivid  and  start- 
ling, that  for  the  youthful  mind  the  book  really  has  no 
formidable  rival  outside  of  the  charmed  circle  where 
Slovenly  Peter  stands  first. 

333 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


•->  I 


Since  then  multitudes  of  books  have  been  written 
about  big  game  hunting.  Most  of  them  are  bad.  of 
course,  just  as  most  novels  and  most  poems  are  bad ; 
but  some  of  them  are  very  good  indeed,  while  a  few  are 
entitled  to  rank  high  in  literature — though  it  cannot  be 
said  that  as  yet  big  game  hunters  as  a  whole  have  pro- 
duced such  writers  as  those  who  dwell  on  the  homelier 
and  less  grandiose  side  of  nature.  They  have  not  pro- 
duced a  White  or  Burroughs,  for  instance.  What  could 
not  Burroughs  have  done  if  only  he  had  cared  for  adven- 
ture and  for  the  rifle,  and  had  roamed  across  the  Great 
Plains  and  the  Rockies,  and  through  the  dim  forests,  as 
he  has  wandered  along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  and  the 
Potomac !  Thoreau,  it  is  true,  did  go  to  the  Maine 
Woods ;  but  then  Thoreau  was  a  transcendentalist,  and, 
therefore,  slightly  anaemic.  A  man  must  feel  the  beat  of 
hardy  life  in  his  veins  before  he  can  be  a  good  big  game 
hunter.  Fortunately,  Richard  Jefferies  has  written  an 
altogether  charming  little  volume  on  the  Red  Deer,  so 
that  there  is,  at  least,  one  game  animal  which  has  been 
fully  described  by  a  man  of  letters,  who  was  also  both  a 
naturalist  and  a  sportsman ;  but  it  is  irritating  to  think 
that  no  one  has  done  as  much  for  the  lordlier  game  of 
the  wilderness.  Not  only  should  the  hunter  be  able  to 
describe  vividly  the  chase,  and  the  life  habits  of  the 
quarry,  but  he  should  also  draw  the  wilderness  itself, 
and  the  life  of  those  who  dwell  or  sojourn  therein.  We 
wish  to  see  before  us  the  cautious  stalk  and  the  headlong 
gallop ;  the  great  beasts  as  they  feed  or  rest  or  run  or 
fight ;  the  wild  hunting  camps ;  the  endless  plains  shim- 
mering in  the  sunlight ;  the  vast  solemn  forests ;  the 
desert  and  the  marsh  and  the  mountain  chain ;  and  all 

324 


I 


Books  on  Big  Game 


sen  written 
ire  bad,  of 
s  are  bad ; 
e  a  few  are 
:  cannot  be 
!  have  pro- 
le homelier 
ve  not  pro- 
What  could 
1  for  adven- 
5  the  Great 
I  forests,  as 
son  and  the 
the  Maine 
ntalist,  and, 
the  beat  of 
d  big  game 
written  an 
ed  Deer,  so 
h  has  been 
also  both  a 
ig  to  think 
er  game  of 
be  able  to 
jits  of  the 
mess  itself, 
erein.    We 
le  headlong 
or  run  or 
lains  shim- 
trests ;  the 
in ;  and  all 


I 


I" 


that  lies  hidden  in  the  lonely  lands  through  which  the 
wilderness  wanderer  roams  and  hunts  game. 

But  there  remain  a  goodly  number  of  books  which  are 
not  merely  filled  with  truthful  information  of  importance, 
but  which  are  also  absorbingly  interesting  ;  and  if  a  book 
is  both  truthful  and  interesting  it  is  surely  entitled  to  a 
place  somewhere  in  general  literature.  Unfortunately, 
the  first  requisite  bars  out  a  great  many  hunting  books. 
There  are  not  a  few  mighty  hunters,  who  have  left  long 
records  of  their  achievements,  and  who  undoubtedly  did 
achieve  a  great  deal ;  out  who  contrive  to  leave  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader  the  uncomfortable  suspicion,  that 
beside  their  prowess  with  the  rifle  they  were  skilled  in 
the  use  of  that  more  archaic  weapon  the  long  bow. 
Gerard  was  a  great  lion  killer,  but  some  of  his  accounts 
of  the  lives,  deaths,  and  especially  the  courtships,  of 
lions,  bear  much  less  relation  to  actual  facts  than  do  the 
novels  of  Dumas.  Not  a  few  of  the  productions  of 
hunters  of  this  type  should  be  grouped  under  the  head- 
lines used  by  the  newspapers  of  our  native  land  in 
describing  something  which  they  are  perfectly  sure 
hasn't  happened — "Important,  if  True." 

If  we  were  limited  to  the  choice  of  one  big  game  writer, 
we  should  have  to  choose  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  for  his  ex- 
periences are  very  wide,  and  we  can  accept  without  ques- 
tion all  that  he  says  in  his  books.  He  hunted  in  India, 
in  Africa,  and  in  North  America ;  he  killed  all  the  chief 
kinds  of  heavy  and  dangerous  game ;  and  he  followed 
them  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  with  the  rifle  and  the 
knife,  and  with  hounds.  For  the  same  reason  if  we  could 
choose  but  one  work,  it  would  have  to  be  the  volumes  of 
"Big  Game  Shooting"  in  the  Badminton  Library,  edited 

335 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


VI 


by  Mr.  Phillipps  Wolley — himself  a  man  who  has  written 
well  of  big  game  hunting  in  out  of  the  way  places,  from 
the  Caucasus  to  the  Cascades.  These  volumes  contain 
pieces  by  many  different  authors ;  but  they  differ  from 
most  volumes  of  the  kind  in  that  all  the  writers  are  trust- 
worthy and  interesting ;  though  the  palm  must  be  given 
to  Oswell's  delightful  account  of  his  South  African 
hunting. 

In  all  these  books  the  one  point  to  be  insisted  on  is 
that  a  big  game  hunter  has  nothing  in  common  with  so 
many  of  the  men  who  delight  to  call  themselves  sports- 
men.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  has  left  a  very  amusing  record 
of  the  horror  he  felt  for  the  Ceylon  sportsmen  who,  by 
the  term  "sport,"  meant  horse-racing  instead  of  elephant 
shooting.  Half  a  century  ago,  Gordon  Cumming  wrote 
of  "  the  life  of  the  wild  hunter,  so  far  preferable  to  that 
of  the  mere  sportsman";  and  his  justification  for  this 
somewhat  sneering  reference  to  the  man  who  takes  his 
sport  in  too  artificial  a  manner,  may  be  found  in  the 
pages  of  a  then  noted  authority  on  such  sports  as  horse- 
racing  and  fox-hunting ;  for  in  Apperly's  "  Nimrod 
Abroad,"  in  the  course  of  an  article  on  the  game  of  the 
American  wilderness,  there  occurs  this  delicious  sen- 
tence :  "  A  damper,  however,  is  thrown  over  all  systems 
of  deerstalking  in  Canada  by  the  necessity,  which  is  said 
to  be  unavoidable,  of  bivouacking  in  the  woods  instead 
of  in  well-aired  sheets!  "  Verily,  there  was  a  great  gulf 
between  the  two  men. 

In  the  present  century  the  world  has  known  three  great 
hunting-grounds :  Africa,  from  the  equator  to  the  south- 
ernmost point ;  India,  both  farther  and  hither ;  and 
North  America  west  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Rio 

316 


Books  on  Big  Game 


e  great 
south- 
and 
le  Rio 


Grande  to  the  Arctic  Circle.  The  atter  never  approached 
either  of  the  former  in  the  wealth  and  variety  of  the 
species,  or  in  the  size  and  terror  of  the  chief  beasts  of  the 
chase ;  but  it  surpassed  India  in  the  countless  numbers 
of  the  individual  animals,  and  in  the  wild  and  unknown 
nature  of  the  hunting-grounds. 

South  Africa  was  the  true  hunter's  paradise.  If  the 
happy  hunting-grounds  were  to  be  found  anywhere  on 
this  world,  they  lay  between  the  Orange  and  the  Zambesi, 
and  extended  northward  here  and  there  to  the  Nile  coun- 
tries and  Somaliland.  Nowhere  else  were  there  such 
multitudes  of  game,  representing  so  many  and  such 
widely  different  kinds  of  animals,  of  such  size,  such 
beauty,  such  infinite  variety.  We  should  have  to  go  back 
to  the  fauna  of  the  Pleistocene  to  find  its  equal.  Never 
before  did  men  enjoy  such  hunting  as  fell  to  the  lot  of 
those  roving  adventurers,  who  first  penetrated  its  hidden 
fastnesses,  camped  by  its  shrunken  rivers,  and  galloped 
across  its  sun-scorched  wastes;  and,  alas  that  it  should 
be  written,  no  man  will  ever  see  the  like  again.  Fortun- 
ately, its  memory  will  forever  be  kept  alive  in  some  of 
the  books  that  the  great  hunters  have  written  about  it, 
such  as  Cornwallis  Harris's  "Wild  Sports  of  South 
Africa,"  Gordon  Cumming's  "Hunter's  Life  in  South 
Africa,"  Baldwin's  "  African  Hunting,"  Drummond's 
"  Large  Game  and  Natural  History  of  South  Africa," 
and,  best  of  all,  Selous's  two  books,  "  A  Hunter's  Wan- 
derings in  South  Africa,"  and  "  Travel  and  Adventure 
in  Southeast  Africa."  Selous  is  the  last  of  the  great 
hunters,  and  no  other  has  left  books  of  such  value  as  his. 

Moreover,  the  pencil  has  done  its  part  as  well  as  the 
pen.    Harris,  who  was  the  pioneer  of  all  the  hunters, 

387 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


•*)  ( 


published  an  admirable  folio  entitled  "The  Game  and 
Wild  Animals  of  South  Africa."  It  is  perhaps  of  more 
value  than  any  other  single  work.  J.  G.  Millais,  in  "A 
Breath  from  the  Veldt,"  has  rendered  a  unique  service, 
not  only  by  his  charming  descriptions,  but  by  his  really 
extraordinary  sketches  of  the  South  African  antelopes, 
both  at  rest,  and  in  every  imaginable  form  of  motion. 
Nearly  at  the  other  end  of  the  continent  there  is  an  ad- 
mirable book  on  lion-hunting  in  Somaliland,  by  Captain 
C.  J.  Melliss.  Much  information  about  big  game  can  be 
taken  from  the  books  of  various  missionaries  and  ex- 
plorers ;  Livingstone  and  Du  Chaillu  doing  for  Africa  in 
this  respect  what  Catlin  did  for  North  America. 

As  we  have  said  before,  one  great  merit  of  these  books 
is  that  they  are  interesting.  Quite  a  number  of  men  who 
are  good  sportsmen,  as  well  as  men  of  means,  have  writ- 
ten books  about  their  experiences  in  Africa;  but  the 
trouble  with  too  many  of  these  short  and  simple  annals 
of  the  rich  is,  that  they  are  very  dull.  They  are  not 
literature,  any  more  than  treatises  on  farriery  and  cook- 
ing are  literature.  To  read  a  mere  itinerary  is  like 
reading  a  guide  book.  No  great  enthusiasm  in  the 
reader  can  be  roused  by  such  a  statement  as  "  this  day 
walked  twenty-three  miles,  shot  one  giraffe  and  two 
zebras;  porter  deserted  with  the  load  containing  the 
spare  boots";  and  the  most  exciting  events,  if  chronicled 
simply  as  "shot  three  rhinos  and  two  buffalo;  the  first 
rhino  and  both  buffalo  charged,"  become  about  as  thrill- 
ing as  a  paragraph  in  Baedeker.  There  is  no  need  of 
additional  literature  of  the  guide-book  and  cookery-book 
kind.  "  Fine  writing  "  is,  of  course,  abhorrent  in  a  way 
that  is  not  possible  for  mere  baldness  of  statement,  and 

328 


Game  and 
ps  of  more 
llais,  in  "  A 
,ue  service, 
y  his  really 

antelopes, 
of  motion, 
re  is  an  ad- 
by  Captain 
ame  can  be 
es  and  ex- 
}r  Africa  in 
:a. 

these  books 
of  men  who 
,  have  writ- 
a;  but  the 
iple  annals 
ey  are  not 
r  and  cook- 
'ary  is  like 
Lsm  in  the 

"this  day 

and  two 

laining  the 

chronicled 
o;  the  first 
lit  as  thrill- 
no  need  of 
okery-book 
It  in  a  way 
ement,  and 


Books  on  Big  Game 

would-be  "  funny  "  writing  is  even  worse,  as  it  almost 
invariably  denotes  a  certain  underbred  quality  of  mind; 
but  there  is  need  of  a  certain  amount  of  detail,  and  of 
vivid  and  graphic,  though  simple,  description.  In  other 
words,  the  writer  on  big  game  should  avoid  equally  Car- 
lyle's  theory  and  Carlyle's  practice  in  the  matter  of 
verbosity. 

Really  good  game  books  are  sure  to  contain  descrip- 
tions which  linger  in  the  mind  just  like  one's  pet  pas- 
sages in  any  other  good  book.  One  example  is  Selous's 
account  of  his  night  watch  close  to  the  wagon  when,  in 
the  pitchy  darkness,  he  killed  three  of  the  five  lions  which 
had  attacked  his  oxen;  or  his  extraordinary  experience 
while  hunting  elephants  on  a  stallion  who  .turned  sulky, 
and  declined  to  gallop  out  of  danger.  The  same  is  true 
of  Drummond's  descriptions  of  the  camps  of  native  hunt- 
ing parties,  of  tracking  wounded  buffalo  through  the 
reeds,  and  of  waiting  for  rhinos  by  a  desert  pool  under 
the  brilliancy  of  the  South  African  moon;  descriptions, 
by  the  way,  which  show  that  the  power  of  writing  inter- 
estingly is  not  dependent  upon  even  approximate  cor- 
rectness in  style,  for  some  of  Mr.  Drummond's  sentences, 
in  point  of  length  and  involution,  would  compare  not  un- 
favorably with  those  of  a  Populist  Senator  discussing 
bimetalism. 

The  experiences  of  a  hunter  in  Africa,  with  its  teeming 
wealth  of  strange  and  uncouth  beasts,  must  have  been, 
and  in  places  must  still  be,  about  what  one's  experience 
would  be  if  one  could  suddenly  go  back  a  few  hundred 
thousand  years  for  a  hunting  trip  in  the  Pliocene  or 
Pleistocene.  In  Mr.  Astor  Chanler's  book,  "  Through 
Jungle  and  Desert,"  the  record  of  his  trip  through  the 

329 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


r[ 


IH ;  '»- 


melancholy  reed  beds  of  the  Guaso  Nyiro,  and  of  his 
return  journey,  carrying  his  wounded  companion,  through 
regions  where  the  caravan  was  perpetually  charged  by 
rhinoceros,  reads  like  a  bit  out  of  the  unreckoned  ages 
of  the  past,  before  the  huge  and  fierce  monsters  of  old 
had  vanished  from  the  earth,  or  acknowledged  man  as 
their  master.  Another  excellent  book  of  mixed  hunting 
and  scientific  exploration  is  Mr.  Donaldson  Smith's 
"Through  Unknown  African  Countries."  If  anything, 
the  hunting  part  is  unduly  sacrificed  to  some  of  the 
minor  scientific  work.  Full  knowledge  of  a  new  breed 
of  rhinoceros,  or  a  full  description  of  the  life  history  and 
chase  of  almost  any  kind  of  big  game,  is  worth  more  than 
any  quantity  of  new  spiders  and  scorpions.  Birds  and 
insects  remain  in  the  land,  and  can  always  be  described 
by  the  shoal  of  scientific  investigators  who  follow  the 
first  adventurous  explorers;  but  it  is  only  the  pioneer 
hunter  who  can  tell  us  all  about  the  far  more  interesting 
and  important  beasts  of  the  chase,  the  different  kinds  of 
big  game,  and  especially  dangerous  big  game;  and  it  is  a 
mistake  in  any  way  to  subordinate  the  greater  work  to 
the  lesser. 

Books  on  big  game  hunting  in  India  are  as  plentiful, 
and  as  good,  as  those  about  Africa.  Forsyth's  "  High- 
lands of  Central  India,"  Sanderson's  "Thirteen  Years 
Among  the  Wild  Beasts  of  India,"  Shakespeare's  "Wild 
Sports  of  India,"  and  Kinloch's  "  Large  Game  Shooting," 
are  perhaps  the  best;  but  there  are  many  other  writers, 
like  Baldwin,  Rice,  Macintyre,  and  Stone,  who  are  also 
very  good.  Indeed,  to  try  to  give  even  the  titles  of  the 
good  books  on  Indian  shooting  would  make  a  magazine 
article  read  too  much  like  the  Homeric  catalogue  of 

330 


Books  on  Big  Game 

ships,  or  the  biblical  generations  of  the  Jewish  patriarchs. 
The  four  books  singled  out  for  special  reference  are  in- 
teresting reading  for  any  one;  particularly  the  accounts 
of  the  deaths  of  man-eating  tigers  at  the  hands  of  For- 
syth, Shakespeare,  and  Sanderson,  and  some  of  Kin- 
loch's  Himalayan  stalks.  It  is  indeed  royal  sport  which 
the  hunter  has  among  the  stupendous  mountain  masses 
of  the  Himalayas,  or  in  the  rank  jungles  and  steamy 
tropical  forests  of  India. 

Hunting  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  love  of 
natural  history,  as  well  as  with  descriptive  and  narrative 
power.  Hornaday's  "Two  Years  in  the  Jungle"  is 
especially  interesting  to  the  naturalist;  but  he  adds  not  a 
little  to  our  knowledge  of  big  game.  It  is  earnestly  to 
be  wished  that  some  hunter  will  do  for  the  gorilla  what 
Hornaday  has  done  for  the  great  East  Indian  ape,  the 
mias  or  orang. 

There  are  many  good  books  on  American  big  game, 
but,  rather  curiously,  they  are  for  the  most  part  modern. 
Until  within  the  present  generation  Americans  only 
hunted  big  game  if  they  were  frontier  settlers,  profes- 
sional trappers,  southern  planters,  army  officers,  or  ex- 
plorers. The  people  of  the  cities  of  the  old  States  were 
bred  in  the  pleasing  faith  that  anything  unconnected 
with  business  was  both  a  waste  of  time  and  presumably 
immoral.  Those  who  traveled  went  to  Europe  instead 
of  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

There  are  good  descriptions  of  big  game  hunting  in 
the  books  of  writers  like  Catlin,  but  they  come  in  inci- 
dentally. Elliott's  book  on  "  Carolina  Field  Sports  "  is 
admirable,  although  the  best  chapters  are  on  harpooning 
the  devil-fish;  and  John  Palliser,  an  Englishman,  in  his 

331 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


"^  I 


*'  Solitary  Hunter,"  has  given  us  the  best  description  of 
hunting  in  the  far  West,  when  it  was  still  an  untrodden 
wilderness.  Unfortunately,  the  old  hunters  themselves, 
the  men  who  had  most  experience  in  the  life  of  the  wil- 
derness, were  utterly  unable  to  write  about  it;  they  could 
not  tell  what  they  had  seen  or  done.  Occasional  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  get  noted  hunters  to  write 
books,  either  personally  or  by  proxy,  but  these  attempts 
have  not  been  successful. 

The  first  effort  to  get  men  of  means  and  cultivation  in 
the  northern  and  eastern  States  of  the  Union  to  look  at 
field  sports  in  the  right  light  was  made  by  an  English- 
man who  wrote  over  the  signature  of  Frank  Forrester. 
He  did  a  great  deal  for  the  shotgun  men;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, he  was  a  true  cockney,  who  cared  little  for  really 
wild  sports,  and  he  was  afflicted  with  that  dreadful 
pedantry  which  pays  more  heed  to  ceremonial  and  ter- 
minology than  to  the  thing  itself.  He  was  sincerely  dis- 
tressed because  the  male  of  the  ordinary  American  deer 
was  called  a  buck  instead  of  a  stag;  and  it  seemed  to 
him  to  be  a  matter  of  moment  whether  one  spoke  of  a 
"  gang  "  or  a  "  herd  "  of  elk. 

There  are  plenty  of  excellent  books  nowadays,  how- 
ever— Dodge's  *'  Hunting  Grounds  of  the  Great  West," 
Caton's  **  Deer  and  Antelope  of  America,"  Van  Dyke's 
"  Still  Hunter,"  and  the  Century's  "  Sport  with  Gun  and 
Rod,"  for  instance.  Warburton  Pike,  Caspar  Whitney, 
and  Frederick  Schwatka  have  given  a  pretty  full  account 
of  boreal  sports;  and  Pendarves  Vivian  and  BaillieGroh- 
man  have  written  exceedingly  interesting  accounts  of 
hunting  trips  in  the  Rockies.  A  new  departure,  that  of 
photographing  wild  animals  in  their  homes,  was  taken  in 

332 


mv 


Books  on  Big  Game 


Wallihan's  "Hoofs,  Claws  and  Antlers,"  although  Mr, 
Wallihan  greatly  marred  the  book  by  combining  with  the 
genuine  photographs  of  wild  game  a  number  of  •*  faked  " 
pictures  of  stuffed  animals.  Finally,  in  Parkman's  "  Ore- 
gon Trail "  and  Irving's  "  Trip  on  the  Prairie,"  two  great 
writers  have  left  us  a  listing  record  of  the  free  life  of  the 
rifle-bearing  wanderers  who  first  hunted  in  the  wild  west- 
ern lands. 

Of  course,  there  are  plenty  of  books  on  European 
game.  Scrope's  **  Art  of  Deerstalking,"  Bromley  Daven- 
port's '*  Sport,"  and  all  the  books  of  Charles  St.  John, 
are  classic.  The  chase  of  the  wolf  and  boar  is  excel- 
lently described  by  an  unnamed  writer  in  *'  Wolf  Hunting 
and  Wild  Sports  of  Brittany."  Baillie  Grohman's  "  Sport 
in  the  Alps  "  is  devoted  to  the  mountain  game  of  Cen- 
tral Europe,  and  is,  moreover,  a  mine  of  curious  hunting 
lore,  most  of  which  is  entirely  new  to  men  unacquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  chase  in  Continental  Europe  dur- 
ing the  last  few  centuries.  An  entirely  novel  type  of 
adventure  is  set  forth  in  Lamont's  "Seasons  with  the 
Sea  Horses,"  wherein  he  describes  his  hunting  in  arctic 
waters  with  rifle  and  harpoon.  Lloyd's  "  Scandinavian 
Adventures  "  and  "  Northern  Field  Sports,"  and  Whis- 
haw's  "Out  of  Doors  in  Tsar  Land,"  tell  of  the  life  and 
game  of  the  snowy  northern  forests.  Chapman  has  done 
good  work  for  both  Norway  and  Spain. 

Finally,  we  come  to  a  book  which,  quite  unconsciously, 
gives  us  the  exact  model  of  what  a  big  game  hunter  and 
a  true  sportsman,  who  is  much  more  than  a  mere  sports- 
man, should  be.  I  mean  Mr.  Edward  North  Buxton's 
*•  Short  Stalks."  It  is  the  book  of  a  man  who  is  a  hardy 
lover  of  nature,  a  skilled  hunter,  but  not  a  game  butcher; 

333 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


'')  1 


a  man  who  has  too  much  serious  work  on  hand  ever  to 
let  himself  become  a  mere  globe-trotting  rifleman.  We 
are  not  disposed  to  undervalue  manly  outdoor  sports,  or 
to  fail  to  appreciate  the  advantage  to  a  nation,  as  well  as 
to  an  individual,  of  such  pastimes;  but  they  must  be 
pastimes,  and  not  business,  and  they  must  not  be  carried 
to  excess.  There  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  for  the  life  of 
a  professional  hunter  in  lonely  lands;  but  the  man  able 
to  be  something  more,  should  be  that  something  more — 
an  explorer,  a  naturalist,  or  else  a  man  who  makes  his 
hunting  trips  merely  delightful  interludes  in  his  life  work. 
As  for  excessive  game  butchery,  it  amounts  merely  to  a 
debauch.  The  man  whose  chief  title  to  glory  is  that, 
during  an  industrious  career  of  destruction,  he  has 
slaughtered  200,000  head  of  deer  and  partridges,  stands 
unpleasantly  near  those  continental  kings  and  nobles 
who,  during  the  centuries  before  the  French  Revolution, 
deified  the  chase  of  the  stag,  and  made  it  into  a  highly 
artificial  cult,  which  they  followed  to  the  exclusion  of 
state-craft  and  war-craft  and  everything  else.  James, 
the  founder  of  the  ignoble  English  branch  of  the  Stuart 
kings,  as  unkingly  a  man  as  ever  sat  on  a  throne,  was 
fanatical  in  his  devotion  to  the  artificial  kind  of  chase 
which  then  absorbed  the  souls  of  the  magnates  of  con- 
tinental Europe. 

There  is  no  need  to  exercise  much  patience  with  men 
who  protest  against  field  sports;  unless,  indeed,  they  are 
logical  vegetarians  of  the  flabbiest  Hindoo  type.  If  it  is 
morally  right  to  kill  an  animal  to  eat  its  body,  then  it  is 
morally  right  to  kill  it  to  preserve  its  head.  A  good 
sportsman  will  not  hesitate  as  to  the  relative  value  he 
puts  upon  the  two,  and  to  get  the  one  he  will  go  a  long 

334 


Books  on  Big  Game 


and  ever  to 
eman.  We 
r  sports,  or 
1,  as  well  as 
;y  must  be 
t  be  carried 
r  the  life  of 
e  man  able 
ing  more — 

makes  his 
is  life  work, 
merely  to  a 
jry  is  that, 
3n,  he  has 
ges,  stands 
and  nobles 
devolution, 
a  highly 

elusion  of 
James, 

the  Stuart 

irone,  was 
of  chase 

es  of  con- 

with  men 
,  they  are 
If  it  is 
then  it  is 
A  good 
value  he 
go  a  long 


H 


time  without  eating  the  other.  No  nation  facing  the  un- 
healthy softening  and  relaxation  of  fibre  which  tend  to 
accompany  civilization  can  afford  to  neglect  anything 
that  will  develop  hardihood,  resolution,  and  the  scorn  of 
discomfort  and  danger.  Hut  if  sport  is  made  an  end 
instead  of  a  means,  it  is  better  to  avoid  it  altogether. 
The  greatest  stag-hunter  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
the  Elector  of  Saxony.  During  the  Thirty  Years'  War 
he  killed  some  80,000  deer  and  boar.  Now,  if  there  ever 
was  a  time  when  the  ruler  of  a  country  needed  to  apply 
himself  to  serious  matters,  it  was  during  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  in  Germany,  and  if  the  Elector  in  question 
had  eschewed  hunting  he  might  have  compared  more 
favorably  with  GustavusAdolphus,  Tilly  and  Wallenstein. 
Wellington  was  fond  of  fox-hunting,  but  he  did  very 
little  of  it  during  the  period  of  the  Peninsular  War. 
Grant  cared  much  for  fine  horses,  but  he  devoted  his 
attention  to  other  matters  when  facing  Lee  before  Rich- 
mond. Perhaps  as  good  an  illustration  as  could  be 
wished  of  the  effects  of  the  opposite  course  is  furnished 
by  poor  Louis  XVL  He  took  his  sport  more  seriously 
than  he  did  his  position  as  ruler  of  his  people.  On  the 
day  when  the  revolutionary  mob  came  to  Versailles,  he 
merely  recorded  in  his  diary  that  he  had  "gone  out 
shooting,  and  had  killed  eighty-one  head  when  he  was 
interrupted  by  events."  The  particular  event  to  which 
this  "  interruption  "  led  up  was  the  guillotine.  Not  many 
sportsmen  have  to  face  such  a  possibility;  but  they  do 
run  the  risk  of  becoming  a  curse  to  themselves  and  to 
every  one  else,  if  they  once  get  into  the  frame  of  mind 
which  can  look  on  the  business  of  life  as  merely  an  inter- 
ruption to  sport. 

335 


■'  I 


LIST  OF  BOOKS 

Written  by  members  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Qub 
on  Huntings  Exploration^  Natural  History^  etc 

Capt.  Henry  T.  Allen.     Reconnaissance  in 

Alaska. 

An  account  of  an  exploring  expedition  through 
hitherto  unknown  portions  of  Alaska,  with  notes 
on  the  Indians,  game  and  natural  history. 

Edward  North  Buxton.     Short  Stalks. 

An  account  of  sport  with  the  rifle,  carried  on  in 
the  most  sportsmanlike  way,  not  only  in  the  Rocky 
Mountaines,  the  Pyrenees  and  Scandinavia,  but 
in  such  out-of-the-way  places  as  the  Atlas  Moun- 
tains, Asia  Minor  and  Sardinia. 

Judge  John  Dean  Caton,  LL.D.     Antelope 

and  Deer  of  America. 

A  very  full  description  of  the  physical  character- 
istics, life,  habits  and  chase  of  the  prong-buck,  and 
of  all  the  North  American  deer ;  the  accounts  of 
the  wapiti,  mule  deer  and  white-tail  deer,  both  in 
their  wild  state  and  in  captivity,  being  particularly 
good. 

33^ 


nssance  m 


List  of  Books 

William  Astor  Chanler.      Through  Jungle 
and  Desert, 

An  account  of  an  adventurous  exploring  expedi- 
tion into  an  unknown  region  of  East  Africa,  with 
many  notes  on  the  geography  and  ethnology  of 
the  country  traversed.  Incidentally  there  is  much 
about  hunting  the  teeming  herds  of  great  game, 
such  as  rhinoceros,  giraffe,  zebra,  and  the  various 
antelopes.  One  of  the  antelope  secured  proved 
to  be  a  new  species. 

Gen.  Richard  Irving  Dodge.  Hunting 
Grounds  of  the  Great  West. 
A  full  account  of  life  and  the  chase  on  the  great 
plains  in  the  old  days,  when  they  were  still  the 
jealously  guarded  hunting  grounds  of  the  Horse 
Indians,  and  were  still  roamed  over  by  myriads  of 
bison. 


Our  Wild  Indians. 

A  full  description  of  the  Horse  Indians  of  the 
great  plains,  in  peace  and  war,  as  seen  by  one  of 
the  soldiers  who  fought  against  or  beside  them  for 
many  years. 

Gen.  a.  W.  Greely.     Three  Years  of  Arctic 
Service. 

An  account  of  an  exploring  expedition  into  the 
Arctic  regions ;  it  reached  the  northernmost  point 
which  at  that  time  had  been  attained. 

337 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

Prof.  D.  G.  Elliott.    Monograph  of  Pittas. 
Monograph  of  Grouse. 
Monograph  of  Pheasants. 
Monograph  of  Cats. 
Monograph  of  Hornbills. 
New  and  Heretofore  Unfigured  Birds  of 

North  America. 
Shore  Birds  of  North  America. 
Gallinaceous  Game  Birds  of  North  Am- 
erica. 
Wild  Animals  {Wo\{). 
Synopsis  of  the  Trochiladce. 

Most  of  these  are  sumptuous  folios,  containing 
handsome  colored  plates,  with  accompanying 
descriptive  texts,  of  the  different  mammals  or 
birds  in  each  of  the  groups  dealt  with.  The 
shore  birds  and  the  gallinaceous  game  birds  are 
illustrated  with  uncolored  plates. 


George    Bird    Grinnell,    Ph.D. 
Hero  Stories  and  Folk  Tales. 


Pawnee 


The  life  history  and  folk  lore  of  the  Pawnees, 
told  by  one  who  is  himself  an  adopted  member  of 
the  tribe.  Incidentally  there  are  excellent  de- 
scriptions of  the  chase  of  the  bison  ;  and,  except  in 
the  volume  next  mentioned,  in  no  other  book  can 
there  be  found  so  vivid  and  accurate  an  account 
of  the  outward  and  inward  life  of  an  Indian  tribe. 

338 


PW 


I 


f  Pittas, 


I  Birds  of 


ortk  Am- 


containing 
ompanying 
ammals  or 
with.  The 
e  birds  are 


Pawnee 


Pawnees, 
member  of 
lellent  de- 
I,  except  in 

book  can 
n  account 
dian  tribe. 


List  of  Books 

B lac kfoot  Lodge  Tales. 

A  volume  on  the  same  plan,  dealing  with  the 

Blackfeet,  as  they  were,  and  as  they  are ;   and 

their  methods  of  warfare  and  the  chase,  their  life, 

social,  organization  and  religion,  and  their  strange 

traditions. 

The  Story  uf  the  Indian. 
A  more  general  book  on  the  Indians  of  the  West, 
treating  of  their  home  life,  their  hunting,  their 
wars,  their  religious  beliefs,  and  finally  of  some  of 
the  changes  which  came  to  them  with  the  advent 
of  the  white  man.  In  these  three  volumes  an 
effort  IS  made  to  treat  the  native  American  hunter 
from  a  point  of  view  somewhat  novel— his  own. 

Clarence     King.      Mountaineering    in    the 
Sierra  Nevadas. 

Charmingly  written  chapters  on  explorations 
among  the  Sierras,  when  they  were  virgin,  and  of 
pioneer  trips  to  the  summits  of  the  loftier  peaks. 

Dr.   C.   Hart  Merriam.      Mammals  of  the 
Adirondacks. 

The  full  life  histories  of  all  the  mammals,  from 
bear  and  deer  to  shrews  and  meadow-mice,  found 
m  the  Adirondacks,  by  a  man  who  is  a  field  natur- 
ahst  m  the  highest  sense  of  the  term ;  the  model 
of  what  we  ought  to  have  for  the  entire  American 
continent. 

339 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

J  Hon.   Theodore   Roosevelt.     The   Wilder- 
ness Hunter. 

The  life  of  a  hunter  in  the  fast-vanishing  Amer- 
ican wilderness,  in  the  forests,  the  mountains  and 
the  great  plains ;  and  chapters  on  the  chase  of 
every  kind  of  big  game  characteristic  of  temperate 
North  America,  with  horse,  hound  and  rifle.  The 
only  book  describing  the  chase  of  all  the  big  game 
of  the  United  States,  by  a  man  who  has  himself 
shot  them  all;  and  describing  also  the  wilderness 
itself,  in  all  its  many  forms,  and  the  men  who 
dwell  and  hunt  therein. 


'VI 


^    Hunting  Trips  of  a  Ranchman. 

Sporting  experiences  of  a  cattle  ranchman  on  the 
northern  plains,  and  accounts  of  the  chase  of  all 
the  game  animals  which  yield  him  sport  and  food. 

>/    Ranch  Life  and  the  Hunting  Trail. 

The  ranch  country,  and  life  among  the  ranchmen 
and  cowboys;  their  work  and  pastimes,  their  feats 
with  horse  and  rope  and  rifle.  Also  further  hunt- 
ing experiences;  the  chapter  on  the  bighorn  sheep 
contains  the  first  fairly  full  account  of  its  life 
history. 

J  Dean  Sage.  The  Restigouche  and  its  Sal- 
mon Fishing;  with  a  Chapter  on  Ang- 
ling Literature. 

A  luxurious  volume  on  Canadian  salmon  angling. 

340 


List  of  Books 


?   Wilder- 

Jhing  Amer- 
•untains  and 
he  chase  of 
)f  temperate 
1  rifle.  The 
he  big  game 
has  himself 
5  wilderness 
e  men  who 


man  on  the 
chase  of  all 
rt  and  food. 

yail. 

2  ranchmen 
,  their  feats 
rther  hunt- 
horn  sheep 
of  its  life 


I  its  Sal- 
on Ang- 

)n  angling. 


Francis    Parkman.        The     California    and 
Oregon  Trail 

An  American  classic,  the  best  of  its  kind,  and  too 
well  known  to  need  more  than  an  allusion. 

Hon.  W.  Woodville  Rockhill.      Through 
Mongolia  and  Thibet. 

The  journal  of  a  trip  to  parts  of  mid-Asia  never 
before  traversed  by  a  white  man,  with  very  full 
notes  on  ethnology  and  geography.  It  was  this 
journey  which  procured  for  Mr.  Rockhill  the  gold 
medal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society. 

T.  S.  Van  Dyke.    The  Still-Hunter. 

A  thorough  and  exceedingly  valuable  treatise  on 
the  science  of  still-hunting  deer;  the  only  book  of 
the  kind;  a  mine  of  valuable  information. 

Game  Birds  at  Home. 

An  account  of  the  habits  and  shooting  of  North 
American  game  birds. 

Charles  E.  Whitehead.      The  Camp-Fires 
of  the  Everglades. 

A  delightful  story  of  a  sojourn  in  Florida  before 
the  war,  giving  a  vivid  picture  of  wild  life  in  a 
country  that  once  abounded  in  game.  A  volume 
noteworthy  for  the  charm  of  its  style. 

341 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

Caspar  W.  Whitney.     On  Snowshoes  to  the 

Barren  Grounds. 

The  detailed  story  of  a  successful  midwinter  trip, 
fraught  with  severe  hardship,  after  musk  ox. 

In  addition,  there  are,  of  course,  numerous  magazine 
articles,  pamphlets,  reports  and  the  like;  not  to  speak  of 
the  three  books  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club — the 
present  volume  and  its  two  predecessors,  "  American  Big 
Game  Hunting,"  and  "  Hunting  in  Many  Lands." 
There  are  also  chapters  in  such  books  as  the  Century 
Company's  " Sport  with  Gun  and  Rod"  and  Scribner's 
"Outdoor  Library." 


342 


hoes  to  the 


idwinter  trip, 
iusk  ox. 

us  magazine 
t  to  speak  of 
tt  Club— the 
American  Big 
iny  Lands." 
the  Century 
d  Scribner's 


Constitution  of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club 

FOUNDED   DECEMBER,    1887 


Article  I. 

This  Club  shall  be  known  as  the  Boone  and  Crockett 
Club. 

Article  II. 

The  objects  of  the  Club  shall  be  : 

1.  To  promote  manly  sport  with  the  rifle. 

2.  To  promote  travel  and  exploration  in  the  wild  and 
unknown,  or  but  partially  known,  portions  of  the  country. 

3.  To  work  for  the  preservation  of  the  large  game  of 
this  country,  and  so  far  as  possible,  to  further  legislation 
for  that  purpose,  and  to  assist  in  enforcing  the  existing 
laws. 

4.  To  promote  inquiry  into,  and  to  record  observations 
on  the  habits  and  natural  history  of,  the  various  wild 
animals. 

5.  To  bring  about  among  the  members  the  interchange 
of  opinions  and  ideas  on  hunting,  travel  and  exploration; 
on  the  various  kinds  of  hunting  rifles;  on  the  haunts  of 
game  animals,  etc. 

Article  III. 
No  one  shall  be  eligible  for  regular  membership  who 

343 


Trail  and  Camp-Fiic 

shall  not  have  killed,  with  the  rifle,  in  fair  chase,  by  stilU 
hunting  or  otherwise,  at  least  one  individual  each  of 
three  of  the  various  kinds  of  American  large  game. 


Article  IV. 

Under  the  head  of  American  large  game  are  included 
the  following  animals:  Black  or  brown  bear,  grizzly  bear, 
polar  bear,  buffalo  (bison),  mountain  sheep,  woodland 
caribou,  barren  ground  caribou,  cougar,  musk  ox,  white 
goat,  elk  (wapiti),  wolf  (not  coyote),  prong-horn  antelope, 
moose,  Virginia  deer,  mule  deer  and  Columbian  black- 
tail  deer. 

Article  V. 

The  term  •*  fair  chase  "  shall  not  be  held  to  include 
killing  bear,  wolf  or  cougar  in  traps,  nor  "  fire  hunting," 
nor  "crusting"  moose,  elk  or  deer  in  deep  snow,  nor 
"  calling  "  moose,  nor  killing  deer  by  any  other  method 
than  fair  stalking  or  still-hunting,  nor  killing  game  from 
a  boat  while  it  is  swimming  in  the  water,  nor  killing  the 
female  or  young  of  any  ruminant,  except  the  female  of 
white  goat  or  of  musk  ox. 

Article  VI. 

This  Club  shall  consist  of  not  more  than  one  hundred 
regular  members,  and  of  such  associate  and  honorary 
members  as  may  be  elected  by  the  Executive  Committee. 
Associate  members  shall  be  chosen  from  those  who  by 
their  furtherance  of  the  objects  of  the  Club,  or  general 
qualifications,  shall  recommend  themselves  to  the  Execu- 

344 


ase,  by  still, 
lal  each  of 
game. 


Constitution,  Boone  and  Crockett  Club 


re  included 
frizzly  bear, 
,  woodland 
k  ox,  white 
n  antelope, 
}ian  black- 


to  include 
I  hunting," 
snow,  nor 
er  method 
?ame  from 
killing  the 
female  of 


Further  Revision. 


In  the  final  revision  of  the  Constitution,  made  after 
h.s  volume  was  printed,  the  Executive  Committee  de 
te^rmmed  to  omit  the  wo,f  from  the  list  of  American  large 

Article  IV.,  therefore,  must  have  the  words  -wolf 
(not  coyote),"  stricken  out,  and  the  word  "wolf"  must 
be  stricken  out  of  Article  V. 


J  hundred 
honorary 
ommittee. 
e  who  by 
)r  general 
le  £xecu> 


be  five  dollars,  and  shall  be  payable  on  February  ist  of 
each  year.  Any  member  who  shall  fail  to  pay  his  dues 
on  or  before  August  ist  following,  shall  thereupon  cease 
to  be  a  member  of  the  Club.  But  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee,  m  their  discretion,  shall  have  power  to  reinstate 
such  member. 

345 


Trail  and  Camp-lMic 


'  I 


This  Club  shall  consist  of  not  more  than  one  hundred 
regular  members,  and  of  such  associate  and  honorary 
members  as  may  be  elected  by  the  Executive  Committee. 
Associate  members  shall  be  chosen  from  those  who  by 
their  furtherance  of  the  objects  of  the  Club,  or  general 
qualifications,  shall  recommend  themselves  to  the  Execu- 

344 


Constitution,  Boone  and  Crockett  Club 

tive  Committee.  Associate  and  honorary  members  shall 
be  exempt  from  dues  and  initiation  fees,  and  shall  not  be 
entitled  to  vote. 

Article  VII. 

The  officers  of  the  Club  shall  be  a  President,  five  Vice» 
Presidents,  a  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  five  members 
of  the  Executive  Committee.  Both  the  President  and 
the  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  be  tx-officio  members 
of  the  Executive  Committee. 

Article  VIII. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  constitute  the  Com- 
mittee on  Admissions.  The  Committee  on  Admissions 
may  recommend  for  regular  membership  by  unanimous 
vote  of  its  members  present  at  any  meeting,  any  person 
who  is  qualified  under  the  foregoing  articles  of  this  Con- 
stitution. Candidates  thus  recommended  shall  be  voted 
on  by  the  Club  at  large.    Six  blackballs  shall  exclude. 


Article  IX. 

The  entrance  fee  for  regular  members  shall  be  twenty- 
five  dollars.  The  annual  dues  of  regular  members  shall 
be  five  dollars,  and  shall  be  payable  on  February  ist  of 
each  year.  Any  member  who  shall  fail  to  pay  his  dues 
on  or  before  August  ist  following,  shall  thereupon  cease 
to  be  a  member  of  the  Club.  But  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, in  their  discretion,  shall  have  power  to  reinstate 
such  member. 

345 


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Trail  and  Camp-Fire 

Article  X. 

The  use  of  steel  traps;  the  making  of  large  "bags"; 
the  killing  of  game  while  swimming  in  water  or  helpless 
in  deep  snow,  and  the  killing  of  the  females  of  any 
species  of  ruminant  (except  the  musk  ox  or  white  goat), 
shall  be  deemed  offenses.  Any  member  who  shall  com- 
mit such  offenses  may  be  suspended,  or  expelled  from 
the  Club  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

Article  XI. 

The  officers  of  the  Club  shall  be  elected  for  the  ensu- 
ing year  at  the  annual  meeting. 


V] 


346 


Officers 

of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club 

1897 


President. 

W.  A.  Wadsworth, 

Geneseo,  N.  Y. 

Vice-Presidents. 

Charles  F.  Deering, 

Illinois. 

W.  B.  Devereux, 

Colorado. 

Howard  Melville  Hanna, 

Ohio. 

William  D.  Pickett, 

Wyoming. 

Frank  Thomson, 

Pennsylvania. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
C.  Grant  La  Farge,  New  York. 

Executive  Committee. 
Winthrop  Chanler,  Chairman; 
Lewis  R.  Morris, 
A.  Rogers, 
Henry  L.  Stimson, 
Madison  Grant. 

Editorial  Committee. 
George  Bird  Grinnell,  New  York. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  Washington.  D.  c. 

347 


'ii; 


Membership  List 
of  the  Boone  and  Crockett  Club 


Regular  Members. 

Capt.  Geo.  S.  Anderson, 
Lieut.  Henry  T.  Allen, 
Albert  Bierstadt, 
Wm.  B.  Bristow, 

D.  M.  Barringer, 
Arthur  Erwin  Brown, 
W.  J.  Boardman, 
Thomas  H.  Barber, 
Wm.  B.  Bogert, 

F.  S.  Billings, 
Chas.  P.  Curtis,  Jr., 
Winthrop  Chanler, 
Royal  Carroll, 
J.  A.  Chanler, 
W.  A.  Chanler, 
Frank  C.  Crocker, 
John  L.  Cadwalader, 

E.  W.  Davis, 

Dr.  Wm.  K.  Draper, 

348 


Nebraska. 

Kansas. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

New  York  City. 

Chicago,  111. 

New  York  City. 

Boston,  Mass. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

Hill  City,  S.  D. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 


List  of  Members 


Chas.  Deering, 

H.  C.  de  Rham, 

J.  Coleman  Drayton, 

W.  B.  Devereux, 

Dr.  Paul  J.  Dashiell, 

Chas.  Stewart  Davison, 

Dr.  D.  G.  Elliot, 

Maxwell  Evarts, 

Robert  Munro  Ferguson, 

Frank  Furness, 

W.  R.  Furness,  Jr., 
J.  G.  FoUansbee, 
Geo.  Bird  Grinnell, 
Wm.  Milne  Grinnell, 
Jno.  Sterritt  Gittings, 
Geo.  H.  Gould, 
Jas.  T.  Gardiner, 
Madison  Grant, 
De  Forest  Grant, 
Arnold  Hague, 
Howard  Melville  Hanna, 
Col.  Jas.  H.  Jones, 
Dr.  Walter  B.  James, 
C.  Grant  La  Farge, 
Dr.  Alex.  Lambert, 
Francis  L.  Lowndes, 

Geo.  H.  Lyman, 

349 


Chicago,  111. 
New  York  City. 
Petersfield,  England. 
Glenwood  Springs,  Col. 
Annapolis,  Md. 
New  York  City. 
Chicago,  111. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
Philadelphia. 
Philadelphia. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Santa  Barbara,  Cal. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 
New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

New  York  City. 

Charleston,  S.  C. 

Boston,  Mass. 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


'  I 


Frank  Lyman, 

Col.  Osmun  Latrobe, 

Col.  H.  C.  McDowell, 

Dr.  J.  C.  Merrill, 

Dr.  Lewis  R.  Morris, 

H.  N.  Munn, 

J.  Cheston  Morris,  Jr., 

Chas.  B,  Macdonald, 

Henry  May, 

J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Jr., 

Lyman  Nichols, 

Gifford  Pinchot, 

Col.  William  D.  Pickett, 

Hon.  Boies  Penrose, 

Prof.  Raphael  Pumpelly, 

Thomas  Paton, 

John  J.  Pierrepont, 

Percy  R.  Pyne, 

Dr.  Chas.  B.  Penrose, 

R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  Jr., 

A.  P.  Proctor, 

H.  C.  Pierce, 

Hon.  Theodore  Roosevelt, 

Archibald  Rogers, 

Bronson  Rumsey, 

Lawrence  D.  Rumsey, 

Douglas  Robinson, 

350 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Baltimore,  Md. 

Lexington,  Ky. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

New  York  City, 

New  York  City. 

Montgomery  Co.,  Pa. 

Chicago,  111. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

New  York  City. 

Boston,  Mass. 

New  York  City. 

Meeteetse,  Wyo. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Newport,  R.  I. 

New  York  City. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

New  York  City. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Philadelphia,  Pa, 

Paris,  France. 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Hyde  Park,  N.  Y. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y, 

New  York  City. 


List  of  Members 


n,  N.  Y. 
ore,  Md. 

ton,  Ky. 

>n,  D.  C. 

ork  City. 

brk  City. 

Co.,  Pa. 

cago,  111. 

on,  D.  C. 

rork  City. 

on,  Mass, 

iTork  City. 

tse,  Wyo. 

ilphia,  Pa. 

lort,  R.  I. 

fork  City. 

yn.  N.  Y. 

f'ork  City. 

Iphia,  Pa. 

[phia.  Pa. 

I,  France. 

luis,  Mo. 

»n,  D.  C. 

:k,  N.  Y. 

lo,  N.  Y. 

lo,  N.  Y, 

lork  City. 


Elihu  Root, 

Benjamin  W.  Richards, 

Dr.  John  Rogers,  Jr., 

Hon.  Wm.  Gary  Sanger, 

Hon.  Bellamy  Storer, 

Dr.  J.  L.  Seward, 

Philip  Schuyler, 

Rutherfurd  Stuyvesant, 

Chas.  F.  Sprague, 

Dean  Sage, 

Henry  L.  Stimson, 

M.  G,  Seckendorff, 

Alden  Sampson, 

Dr.  William  Lord  Smith, 

Frank  Thomson, 

B.  C.  Tilghman, 

Lewis  S.  Thompson, 

Col.  Roger  D.  Williams, 

Maj.-Gen.  Wm.  D.  Whipple, 

W.  A.  Wadsworth, 

Owen  Wister, 

R.  D.  Winthrop, 

Chas.  E.  Whitehead, 

Samuel  D.  Warren, 

Caspar  W.  Whitney, 

Jas,  Sibley  Watson, 

J.  Walter  Wood,  Jr., 

351 


New  York  City. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
New  York  City. 
Sangerfield,  N.  Y. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
Orange,  N,  J. 
Ir\'ington,  N.  Y, 
New  York  City, 
Boston,  Mass. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
New  York  City. 
Washington,  D.  C, 
Haverford,  Pa, 
Worcester,  Mass. 
Philadelphia,  Pa, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Red  Bank,  N.  J. 
Lexington,  Ky. 
New  York  City. 
Geneseo,  N.  Y. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
Boston,  Mass. 
New  York  City. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Short  Hills,  N.  J. 


Trail  and  Camp-Fire 


E.  P.  Wilbur,  Jr., 
Frederic  Winthrop, 


South  Bethlehem,  Pa. 
New  York  City. 


VI 


Associate  Members 

Hon.  Truxtun  Beale, 

Edward  North  Buxton, 

W.  I.  Buchanan, 

D.  H.  Burnham, 

A.  P.  Gordon-Camming, 

Capt.  Frank  A.  Edwards, 

Brig.-Gen.  A.  W.  Greely, 

Hon.  Wade  Hampton, 

Major  Moses  Harris, 

Maj.-Gen.  W.  H.  Jackson, 

Clarence  King, 

Hon.  Henry  Cabot  Lodge, 

A.  P.  Low, 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam, 

Prof.  Jno.  Bach  MacMaster, 

Hon.  Redfield  Proctor, 

Capt.  Jno.  Pitcher,  ft. 

Hon.  Thos.  B.  Reed, 

Jno.  Ellis  Roosevelt, 

Hon.  W.  Woodville  Rockhill, 

Hon.  Carl  Schurz, 

T.  S.  Van  Dyke, 

Hon.  G.  G.  Vest, 

352 


Washington,  D.  C. 

Essex,  England. 

Chicago,  111. 

Chicago,  111. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Columbia,  S.  C. 

Washington,  D.  C, 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

New  York  City. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Ottawa,  Canada. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Washmgton,  D.  C. 

Huachuca,  Arizona. 

Portland,  Me. 

New  York  City. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

New  York  City. 

San  Diego,  Cal. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


List  of  Members 


Deceased  Members 
Hon.  Benj.  H.  Bristow, 
Col.  Jno.  Mason  Brown, 
Major  Campbell  Brown, 

*  Judge  Jno.  Dean  Caton, 
H.  A.  Carey, 

Col.  Richard  Irving  Dodge, 
Dundas  Lippincott, 
Jas.  S.  Norton, 

*  Francis  Parkman, 
W.  Hallett  Phillips, 
N.  P.  Rogers, 
E.  P.  Rogers, 
Elliott  Roosevelt, 
Dr.  J.  West  Roosevelt, 
♦Gen.  W.  T.Sherman, 
♦Gen.  Phil.  Sheridan, 

*  The  nai.ies  of  Honorary  Members 


New  York  City. 
Louisville,  Ky. 
Spring  Hill,  Tenn. 
Ottawa,  111. 
Newport,  R.  I. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Chicago,  111. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Washington,  D.  C, 
New  York  City. 
Hyde  Park,  N.  Y. 
Abingdon,  Va. 
New  York  City. 
New  York  City. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
are  marked  thus. 


353 


